Baby #2: First Trimester

If you saw my recent post, you know that we are excitedly expecting Baby #2!

With Mason, we let the world know within a week of the positive test. With Jaxon, we announced after our first ultrasound (and confirmed heartbeat and due date). We never revealed our 3rd pregnancy to most people, and not at all to Facebook or any other social media site because we lost the baby prior to the first ultrasound (I have posted about our loss).

With this baby, we decided to take a step back from our "open book lives". We chose to keep our pregnancy a guarded secret for a while this time, to ensure we are expecting a healthy baby. Since I had my 12 week scan and baby is doing great, we felt like it was time to let the world in on our wonderful, little secret.

Here is a little recap of my First Trimester with Baby #2...

Jason and I had been trying to get pregnant with #2 since July 2013. Tuesday, June 24th, in the evening after a brief conversation with my mom, I got a thought in my head... I decided on a whim to take a test. Whaddya know? It was positive! Honestly, I didn't believe it and told no one. The next morning, I took another test to see if I was crazy, and the positive popped right up. There was no question- we are expecting! I told Jason that afternoon and my mom and grandparents that evening. Everyone was thrilled.

Due to my loss in January, I was cautiously excited. Actually, not a very fun feeling. I wanted so badly to scream from the mountains that Jaxon was going to be a big brother, but considering our first pregnancy ending in devastation and the last pregnancy essentially ending as soon as it began, I was very tentative.This is NOT normal for me, so the last several months have been a challenge!

When we went in for our confirmation ultrasound on July 22, I was supposed to be 7w 3d (based on LMP...sorry, TMI) and was hoping to hear that baby was measuring close to that. I was thrilled to hear a strong heartbeat and learn that baby was measuring exactly where he/she should! I could feel the knot in my body slowly unwinding.

I was scheduled to come back in 2 weeks to check growth and we learned at that appointment that baby was measuring ahead! S/he was already measuring 10 weeks at 9w4d- not that big of a deal, really, but when measurements are key in the first trimester, those few days did make a difference for some of the screenings that I had to schedule - immediately!

After speaking with Genetics, we learned that we are not in danger (or in any higher danger than anyone else) for chromosomal abnormalities. Mason's disease was so very rare that they cannot even compute what the chances of a sibling having the disease would be. Thank GOD! I am officially "Low Risk" and can continue with my pregnancy like normal and participate in only the screenings that I want without suggestion.

I was so thankful to have the month of July off because the minute everything sunk in- I was nauseous nearly 24/7, exhausted (especially running after a toddler!), headaches were often and I was always starving. Plus, I got some time to plan for baby since Jason and I will be moving into the garage after we make our "garage master suite". Our current room will become the nursery.

Now that I am back to work, I am heading straight into busy season, we'll go in to the Holiday season, then I will spend January and February preparing for my leave and one last big test before maternity leave. I have quite a bit of work to do in the next 5-6 months before baby is due to arrive!

We opted only for the Nuchal Translucency test: that is a 12 week Ultrasound coupled with a 1st Trimester and 2nd Trimester blood draw that computes (accompanied with maternal age and familial history) the likelihood that our baby will have Down Syndrome, Trisomy 13 or 18 (both fatal), Spinabifida or other neural tube defects. This is where we learned Mason was so sick. A fatal heart defect was the first indication that something was wrong. Thankfully, we also learned during this ultrasound, with Jaxon, that he was totally healthy, had a perfect heart and was a boy! Normally, they are done in the 12th week, but I wasn't able to schedule mine until mid-13th week and he had a growth spurt just prior...so he measured 15 weeks exactly and his boy-ness was obvious.

After learning all was well, I told my co-workers the news. Their reactions made my heart swell. I felt SO loved! And know my baby is already loved. They didn't even care about the timing (I've already mentioned that I will be gone during a major portion of testing and will not return until the following school year (if at all). I will have a sub, so testing issues may press on all of them a tad this year). They're all awesome!

We announced on social media on Sunday 8/31 and the well wishes and love from everyone was beyond overwhelming!

Now that I have entered my 2nd trimester, I am enjoying a tad more energy and I suspect that will continue to increase over the next several weeks. The nausea has decreased a bit, but is still there and many other indicators have lightened up a tad. All in all, I am thankful for each and every symptom - it reminds me that I am pregnant and my baby is healthy and growing. I wouldn't care if I was hunched over a toilet all 9 months to bring a healthy baby home in the end. Although, that image is certainly not ideal!

More updates to come!

xoxo- Lady Lewy