Kids are starting to notice already!

Today, both David and I met with the two students that we tutor every week at Webb following the afternoon classes.  I was out of my classroom and running late from another meeting before coming to work with my student.  David's student apparently went to the restroom with a friend.  When David didn't see his student in my classroom where they would meet, too, David went to look for him in the bathroom.

As David was entering the men's restroom, he heard his student say, "Yeah, I think they're making a baby."  David then said with a smile, "Oh, is that why you thought neither of us was in the classroom?"  The student said, "No, that's not what I meant!  Ugh, so embarrassed..."

David laughed and said, "Because I can assure you that we're not making it anymore!  But, don't tell anyone yet.  My wife is keeping it on the down low for a few days yet... That goes for you, too, whoever is on the toilet!"

I thought that I had been so careful in picking out loose and "sneaky" clothes to wear to school, but I guess it's about time to share with my students because I'm sure some have already guessed if David's student knew that something was up.


The doctor said that our baby measured 5 ounces yesterday.  I have about 10 pregnancy apps (I know, crazy) on my iPhone.

It's interesting to see all the different foods that they compare the baby to in the same week (some say 16 weeks, some say "17th week").

Good news for now!

Bottom line: the baby looks good right now according to all the careful measurements in the intense Level 2 ultrasound today.  We are so thankful and hoping we only get good news in the next week!

The genetic counselor and the doctor both said that David and I should feel "very good" about what we saw in the Level 2 ultrasound at our appointment today, in terms of healthy baby measurements and no obvious signs of physical abnormalities from the ultrasound pictures.  Woooooooo, those were such nice words to hear from them after spending all afternoon at the hospital.

We feel a lot better tonight than how much of a nervous wreck we both felt this past weekend after Friday's phone call from my OBGYN, even if we both tried to hide it as we anxiously waited for today's appointment. 

First, we drove to the wrong hospital.  Luckily, we left early with plenty of time to make it to the appointment.  Then, I was starting to feel light-headed all of a sudden when we walked from one patient waiting room to another, and I had that strange feeling that I was going to faint, as I have done in the past.  I rested and tried to get the blood to rush back to my head as we waited for the nurse to call my name.  I felt a little better but needed David to hold onto me as we walked to the ultrasound room.  I don't know if I felt nervous about the whole thing or just had been walking around all morning (I had 4 classes in a row and was up and about for 4 hours without a snack), but I was ready to lie down on the bed in the ultrasound room and just watch the screen.

Well, I got what I wished for... There wasn't one, but there were TWO sonographers working on two different computer screens to look very carefully at the ultrasound images as they measured any and every limb, bone and organ that they could find on the baby!  I couldn't believe they were measuring each kidney already, on a fetus just 16 weeks old! 

Normally, I get excited when my OBGYN rubs the jelly on my stomach and uses the device to rub around and send the ultrasound waves to show a new image of a bigger baby on the screen every time I go to see her.  It would be a brief 5-minute look at the baby with the ultrasound machine.  As I was high risk, I was lucky to get extra ultrasound appointments than others.  

But, this time, although it was a treat to see SO many different angles, measurements and movements of the baby, my stomach was starting to feel sore from all the rubbing that both ladies (yes, they took turns to take pictures of something that the other wasn't able to get) did with the device on my belly.  I think we were in there for close to 45 minutes.  David and I were watching the screen on the other side of the room where we could see what the ladies were trying to see and take pictures and measurements of on the baby.  They would describe to us what they saw, the feet, the hands, the kidneys, the femur bone, the brain, the nose, etc.  Occasionally, they would mumble some things in medical language that we couldn't quite understand, so I didn't know if it was normal, good stuff, or if they were trying to discuss an abnormality that they both noticed on the screen.  I didn't ask any questions, and I don't know if they were even allowed to tell us anything before we talked to the genetic counselor!

Eventually, we finished with the ultrasound machine, after the ladies took what seemed like 75 ultrasound images of every particular part of the baby.  We were brought into a tiny room with 3 chairs where the genetic counselor would come to meet with us to discuss our genetic history, what my blood test results from last Friday mean and what the sonographers came across with the ultrasound images. 

To make a long story short... The measurements of the baby from the Level 2 ultrasound images looked very normal.  The only abnormality was that the sonographers found two small cysts (pockets of fluid) in the brain, but the genetic counselor said this was actually fairly common in fetuses, and eventually they will go away as the brain forms more fully in the third trimester.  I'm still not sure why this popped up as an alarming factor if the counselor said it's common, but it made us feel better that she was not concerned about it!

She gave us three options: (1) stop from any further testing and leave with what we know from the Level 2 ultrasound images, (2) do the NIPT blood test to get a more definitive answer about a chromosomal defect or not existing, or (3) do the amniocentesis procedure (needle in the amniotic fluid with the baby) to get a more definitive answer about a defect.

We wanted more info at this point, so we were ready to go ahead with the amniocentesis, BUT we did not even know we had a third option with the NIPT blood test.  The genetic counselor said that it is a fairly new test for chromosomal defects that she said would not have been an option two years ago.  Ultimately, we chose for me to draw blood using this test instead of using the long needle and numbing my belly with the amniocentesis procedure because the NIPT test has NO risk of miscarriage, and the amniocentesis has a 1 in 200 risk of miscarriage, which is still low or 0.5%, but we just felt better about doing the option with no risk.  Also, the NIPT test gives us an answer with 99% certainty about whether there is a chromosomal defect, just short of the 100% certainty answer from the amniocentesis.  99% is good enough for us for the NIPT test to either give us reassurance that there are no defects, or for us to spend a good chunk of my deductible on this test and have no risk to the baby before having to do an amniocentesis follow-up procedure after the NIPT test to figure out the defect is, if we get positive results for an abnormality from the NIPT.

I could go into what the NIPT is, but this blog post is too long as it is, so I'll let you Google it if you want. But, that's what I did today.  We'll get the results from this more definitive blood test in less than two weeks. 

For now, we feel good about what we learned from studying all the ultrasound images and talking to the genetic counselor and doctor.  We still anxiously await the blood results until then!  And, after all that time studying every millimeter of the baby in the ultrasound room, they could tell us that with 100% certainty that we have a GIRL!  

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers.  They helped, and we're thankful for the love and support!  xoxo

16 weeks: 17 questions

1) How far along?  16 weeks

2) Total weight gain? Not sure. Maybe another pound. They'll probably weigh me tomorrow at my doctor's appointment. (My guess is that I am 134 pounds now.)
3) Maternity clothes? No, but I still have to be careful about what I wear at school, so I can hide the growing bump.  I'm not quite ready to share with "the public" yet. 

4) Stretch marks? Not yet.

5) Sleep? I'm trying to get as much as I can! I feel like I'm sleeping as much as Hank does every day. 

6) Best moment this week? (1) We loved the visit from Grandma Patsy and my mom last weekend, and then we got a nice, surprise visit from David's mom, Nancy, and Caroline's husband, Stefan, just two days ago.  (2) Knoxville was a nice "pit stop" for them to make as they drove north from North Carolina to Indiana. (3) Finally, last Monday's 15-week appointment was a good appointment. It was also on President's Day when I had no school and could relax for the day and reminisce about the new US pics before starting off the busy school week again. 

7) Miss Anything? I'm still anxious to start feeling less nauseous and more "cute" and normal again.  I just keep telling myself that it means good growth is going on inside my body if I keep feeling yucky. 

8) Movement? Not yet.  I heard it can come as early as 16 weeks but as late as 20 weeks for first time moms.

9) Food cravings? Still watermelon!  David went out to buy some at 9:00 PM last night on his way home from work when I "needed" some. :)  I like my bagel, cream cheese, turkey and avocado sandwiches, too! 
10) Anything making you queasy or sick? Sometimes scrambled eggs for breakfast...The two times that I really threw up were after I ate scrambled eggs.  But they taste so good!  David made me some this morning, and no puking so far today! We're both enjoying these new gummy fish oil vitamins that I found at Kroger.  They taste a lot better than the normal pills that you can see the oil in them! 

11) Gender? The doctor is 80% it's a GIRL. We will find out for sure 100% at Monday's appointment. 

12) Labor Signs? No

13) Symptoms? I still have lots of saliva in my mouth.  It grosses me out when I need to spit in the sink.  And then just my normal night-time nausea that hits me at 7:00 or so every night.

14) Belly Button in or out? In still, but I'm shocked at how much it's already starting to "move out"!

15) Wedding rings on or off? On

16) Happy or Moody? I'm trying to be happy and positive!  I feel like we have been through a whirlwind of emotions this past week!
17) Looking forward to what? I am ready to go to our Level 2 ultrasound appointment and to do the amniocentesis procedure tomorrow, so we know more information about the baby. We're saying prayers and thinking happy thoughts tonight!

I definitely feel like my stomach grew a little last week, but I don't know if you can see the change as clearly in my 16-week "bump" pics below:

Big Girl Pants

Well, I feel like it's time to really put on my "big girl pants."  After starting out the week with a beautiful ultrasound visit and an 80% certainty gender reveal at just 15 weeks, my doctor called me yesterday with what she called "worrisome results" from my AFP blood test that I had during Monday's appointment.

The AFP test measures the amount of Alpha-Fetoprotein in my blood.  It tests for abnormalities in the baby, in particular Down Syndrome and other genetic problems with the chromosomes.

I was in class Friday morning when my doctor had called.  She left two voicemails in the span of two hours, asking me to call her back.  Normally, she says that she will "spit out the good information" right away on a message if I'm in class, so that I won't worry, but when she wanted me to call her back, I knew it wasn't good news.

My doctor said that, based on my 28 years of age and 15-week gestational age of the baby, there is normally a 1 in 765 calculated chance that I will have a child with chromosomal defects.  But, based on my blood work results that she received Friday morning, there is now a 1 in 69 chance of these defects.

I called her back after having lunch in the cafeteria, and was trying to hold back my tears when I was talking to her on my cell phone while walking on the school campus among the students.  I thought after the ups and downs from my last two pregnancies this year, that David and I were finally able to enjoy the rest of the ride, every step of it, until we could hold the baby in August.  At almost 16 weeks, I thought that I had a cushion of a few weeks out of the normal "safe zone" of 13 weeks to finally feel confident and good about this pregnancy and to share it with my colleagues, students and my track and field athletes who might be still wondering why I could not coach this spring season.

My doctor said that the odds are still in my favor that the baby is just fine, because a 1 in 69 chance is still less than 1.5% chance.  But, she said, it does happen, and she suggested that I go in Monday afternoon to a hospital in downtown Knoxville.  I will have a Level 2 ultrasound, which provides more details and information about the baby's measurements and features to give this other doctor a better idea of how things look on the screen. Then, whether this ultrasound provides good or bad news based on what he sees, I will probably still go ahead with the amniocentesis procedure.  Instead of giving us odds and percentages, the amniocentesis will give us an exact answer about what is going on with the baby's chromosomes.

One of my friends advised me not to start Googling stories or blog posts from other women online about their similar situations with a "positive" test, meaning abnormal results are found in the blood, because my situation is unique from others and it will just make me more anxious.  But, I did want to search what Amniocentesis was, so that I know what to expect for Monday.  The doctor will stick a long needle in the "bubble" with my baby to extract the amniotic fluid, which they will test for the chromosomes.  My doctor said that there is a risk, but it is a low risk, of miscarriage to do the amniocentesis procedure.  Of course, the word "miscarriage" still gives me nightmares, but David and I would want more information at this point, rather than waiting another 6 months in angst, wondering about what the AFP test results from last Monday really do mean.

Honestly, I felt guilty reacting the way I did when my doctor called me with the "not so good" news.  It's not necessarily bad right now, but just not the easy, good answer of "Everything looks great!" that I expected her to say quickly in a voicemail. David and I will love the baby, no matter what abnormalities she has, but it's really hard to prepare yourself for the additional challenges, physical but mainly emotional, that we will need to face and to be strong throughout it all that we might face before and after the birth.  Things may very well turn out wonderfully, and this AFP test and amniocentesis procedure might just be causing us some extra worry for nothing, but it's hard for me not to think about it or about any other little hurdle that just seems to keep popping up when we think things seem to be progressing smoothly.

I know I'm not the only one who has or who is going through pregnancy hurdles like this, and while it is sometimes comforting to know that I am not the only one, it doesn't always fix the situation or make me feel more confident about our own baby.

I guess that there will always be something to worry about, even if we pass each of these milestones in the pregnancy journey.  David is good at keeping me calm and he says that any extra stress is not going to do anything good for the baby, so I'm trying to keep my mind on other things.  This is when I am thankful that I have my crazy amount of grading and lesson planning to do as a teacher during my "free time"!

After the amniocentesis procedure on Monday, we will receive the results in a week.  I'll post something as soon as we get more information.  It'll be tough to keep my mind off it and to think about anything else, but that's what I'm going to need to do to keep away any stress and to focus on the other good things going on in our lives with our family and friends this spring.

Gender Reveal...Kind Of!

My doctor told me that she would probably be able to see what the gender of our baby was when she searched on the ultrasound screen during my 15-week check-up yesterday.  She asked if David and I wanted to know at this point, and I said yes, but asked if she could write it down on a piece of paper and put it in a sealed envelope, so we could open it together when I saw him later. 

The doctor says that she is "80% certain" of her gender reveal right now at 15 weeks.  Below is what she gave us!  

David said, "Well, it's even teams now with you girls and Hank and me...for now!"  We're already fighting over names, so we welcome suggestions!  I think we're going to also come up with our own lists of favorites and post a voting poll on the blog to get input later!

15 weeks: 17 questions

1) How far along?  15 weeks, 0 days (Feb. 16)

2) Total weight gain? I forgot to look at the scale when the nurse weighed me today at my doctor's appointment, so I'm not sure... I doubt that I gained more than 1 pound, if any. 
3) Maternity clothes? No, but I definitely have to keep wearing loose clothes until I "let the secret out" at school.

4) Stretch marks? Nope!  But I'm thinking it's time to use that stretch mark cream because I'm finally feeling the "stretch"! 

5) Sleep? Still going to bed early and loving it!

6) Best moment this week? Hard to choose...I had two extra "snow days" last week to help extend my February Break from classes, my mom and grandma came to visit me and David in Knoxville last weekend, and I got all good news at my 15-week ultrasound appointment today! (I'll do a separate post on that later this week.)

7) Miss Anything? I miss feeling "normal" and not nauseous at night. I miss running, too, but walking is good enough for me right now.

8) Movement? No movement

9) Food cravings? Believe it or not, I still crave watermelon! I like my Special K and Cocoa Pebbles cereal mix with milk in the morning or a bagel and butter.  I came up with a delicious sandwich yesterday that I could eat--white bread, cream cheese, turkey, avocado, salt and pepper. 
10) Anything making you queasy or sick? Still not really eating vegetables but will eat some salads if they have lots of bacon and cheese and other stuff on it! :)

11) Gender? Actually, the doctor WAS able to find out the gender at today's 15-week ultrasound appointment...She was 80% sure and wrote it down on a piece of paper. David and I opened it together this morning when I brought the sealed envelope to him at his work. I'll share it in a post tomorrow!

12) Labor Signs? No

13) Symptoms? I still have lots of saliva and unfortunately need to spit a lot. I still have nausea at night and have gone through 3 refills of my anti-nauseau medicine.  I'm gaining a little more energy but still like going to bed by 9:00.

14) Belly Button in or out? In, but David said he thinks it's starting to push out...yikes, not ready for that just yet!

15) Wedding rings on or off? On

16) Happy or Moody? I feel like I'm happy during the day and then turn moody when the night time nausea sets in!
17) Looking forward to what? When I can start "feeling cute" which my doctor keeps telling me will come soon!

Don't mind the random Brazil flag and the Blink 182 concert poster in the background!  I think I need to call my Aunt Marsha to help with our interior decorating.

Booze and Patsy in Knoxville

Booze (Mom) and (Grandma) Patsy came to visit us in Knoxville this weekend.  It was still cool around 35 degrees today in Tennessee, but still warmer than Wisconsin where they came from!

14 weeks: 17 questions

1) How far along?  14 weeks, 0 days

2) Total weight gain? 1 pound. I weighed 133 pounds today.
3) Maternity clothes? No, however, my Latin teacher colleague already guessed that I was pregnant, so I've got to be sneakier about my wardrobe selections this week to cover any sort of bump that might give a clue.  I'm still hoping that my students just think that I gained a little weight around my stomach, or that they're at least too polite to ask any questions!

4) Stretch marks? No

5) Sleep? Yes, I'm sleeping a lot!  I still hear my bed calling my name at 7:30 and then fall asleep by 9:30. I set my alarm for 6:00 every morning but still end up getting out of bed at 7:15, so I'm getting plenty of sleep. That's for sure!

6) Best moment this week? I had some great classes on Friday... that doesn't always happen, especially during last period of the school day!

7) Miss Anything? I still miss running, but was able to bike twice this past week. Surprisingly, I don't miss wine or beer. 

8) Movement? No, just the occasional rumblings of my empty stomach.

9) Food cravings? Still watermelon and lots of fruit...oranges, apples, pears, and bananas that I'm always grabbing from the school cafeteria in the morning to hold me over until lunch.
10) Anything making you queasy or sick? Still vegetables

11) Gender? No, we don't know yet.

12) Labor Signs? Nope!

13) Symptoms? I still feel like I always have a pool of saliva in my mouth. I can't help but spit it out when I get the urge, and spitting grosses me out. I hate when guys do it in public, so I'm trying to stop this bad habit!

14) Belly Button in or out? In

15) Wedding rings on or off? On

16) Happy or Moody? In the middle... Very on and off!
17) Looking forward to what? Booze and Patsy come to visit us in Knoxville this Thursday over my long February Break weekend!  Also, I have my 15-week ultrasound appointment in a week!  Eeek!!!

I was happy to be able to simply bike for 20 minutes easy, stretch and do some arm weight exercises on the ground, but I do look tired in these pics! I think I took so many because I was delaying my exercise routine and would rather take selfies of the not-so-big 14 week "bump."

"Jalapeño Week"

 It has felt like a "jalapeño week" for this 13th week!  Nearly all food is simply tasteless to me and I don't feel like eating anything after 6:00 most nights.  I'm ready to go to bed at 7:30. I think it's God's way of telling me it's okay for me to sleep and not feel guilty about finishing lesson plans for the rest of the week. I can't even imagine head coaching again this season after working 8 hours at school every day. I'm just hoping that all this energy that is being sucked from me means that everything is going well inside of my body! Tomorrow marks 14 weeks!  14 is my lucky number!  David says it's his lucky number, too, because it was also his hockey number, but I think he is just copying me!

13 weeks: 17 questions

1) How far along?  13 weeks, 0 days (according to measurements from last ultrasound scan on Thurs. Jan. 23rd) I don't have much of a "bump" yet, but here are 13-week photos to compare for later!

2) Total weight gain? Nothing this week. I weighed myself yesterday and was 132 pounds.  
3) Maternity clothes? No, just my go-to favorites: leggings, skirts, dresses and long blouses. 

4) Stretch marks? No...at least I don't think so!

5) Sleep? I'm getting tired easily still by around 7:00 PM, even with my early 9:30 PM bedtime, but I did start feeling slightly more energetic yesterday, so I tried biking at Fairways & Greens.  I got pretty heated fast, and it's been 5 weeks since I last exercised "hard," so I needed to rest on the couch immediately after with an ice pack on my head.  I felt a little better later and did arm weight exercises with dumb bells, but I was sitting down the whole time, so I could lie down immediately and get blood to my head if I started feeling like I was going to faint again. 

6) Best moment this week? Probably that I was able to just exercise more than my usual daily walk, since I'm not supposed to walk Hank anymore, and he doesn't always stick by me when I let him off his leash, so he doesn't pull me down.  It's been a rough week emotionally, so I'm hoping that I'll have more "best moments" next week. :)

7) Miss Anything? I miss heavy exercise still, but was happy to get to bike even for just 25 minutes one day this week. I ate one salad Saturday, a rare appearance of vegetable-eating, because I felt just a bit better yesterday. I miss doing things with David and feeling relaxed and not so stressed about our lives this first part of the pregnancy. They say it only gets better in months 4-7. 

8) Movement? No, I don't feel anything.  I'm anxious to, though!

9) Food cravings? Still lots of watermelon.  If I'm feeling hydrated, it helps me to get in more "fluids" in my body and tastes so good!  There's nothing else I'm really "craving."  My taste buds are so out of whack that nothing really sounds particularly delicious to me... I'm just trying to get in enough healthy food that I can keep down. However, my sense of SMELL is still extremely strong.  While some might think it's useful in some situations, it's sometimes annoying because I can smell just about any smell in a room that I'm in, and I can't get it out of my head.  I almost wish I didn't smell anything at all. 

10) Anything making you queasy or sick? Mainly vegetables still, so I need sauce or cheese to put on it if I try to eat any vegetable.  Nothing tastes particularly good or bad to me.  It all just is a form of energy going in my stomach with no taste to me.

11) Gender? No, not yet.

12) Labor Signs? No, sir!

13) Symptoms? Sharp sense of smell, nauseous still (until I felt a tiny bit better yesterday), fatigue, headaches, and definitely a lot of saliva (I try not to spit in public on the street, but sometimes I need to when no one's looking!)

14) Belly Button in or out? In!

15) Wedding rings on or off? Yes

16) Happy or Moody? Up and down this week.  I had a few days off from school due to icy roads, so I got extra rest and work done during the day when I usually feel better, but it's also been an emotionally tiring week, so I'm looking forward to moving onto enjoying a stress-free week 13.

17) Looking forward to what? A pleasant 13th week and a little more exercise and less fatigue! (At least wishing for it!)