Next month, I shall be a mother of 2!

It is now May 1st, here in New Zealand - so I can officially say "next month, Emersyn will be here!".  How long have I waited to say those words?  It used to feel like this time would never roll around, but here it is... and looking back, the time has actually gone exceptionally fast!!!!!!  I am now 32 weeks pregnant, and it still feels - at times, as if I am counting down the days, until my gender ultrasound!

I had another growth ultrasound on Wednesday, and Emersyn is STILL measuring above the 90th percentile for her weight, and around the 80th for general body size.  The high risk ob said that the body measurements were all great, however she has an enormous head - but when I told her that Gaby had a huge head at birth (37.5cm/15in), she said it is quite possible that I just have babies, with big heads!  If Emersyn's weight is still above the 90th percentile, at the next growth scan, the high risk ob has said she'll send me for the GTT again.  I passed the GTT at 28w, easily - but she said that it (GD) can develop later than 28 weeks.  I don't mind having to do the test again, I'd sooner be safe than sorry... but I think I am just growing a naturally big baby!

I noticed Gaby had a little sore on her mouth, a few days ago - and presumed it was a coldsore... it didn't seem to bother her, but yesterday she started getting new sores, popping up every hour.  That naturally got my spidey/mummy senses tingling, so I took her into the pharmacy & the pharmacist said it looked like impetigo.  Having had that 10 years ago, I knew how unpleasant it was, if it was left untreated - so luckily got her in to the doctor later in the afternoon.  She's now had 4 doses of cream & antibiotics, and her mouth is looking a LOT better - definately less red, and the smaller sores have all but disappeared!

Bit weird to think that there are only another 6 weeks or so, of life being 'just me and Gaby'...  It's all a little bittersweet really....

my teeny tiny blob is now 3lb1oz

I had my first of 2-3 growth ultrasounds yesterday... the high risk ob wants me to have them, due to the small possibility I have something wrong with my placenta (which caused the bleeding I've had throughout the pregnancy), and also due to the small risk of fetal abnormalities, from the anti-epilpetic medication that I'm on.  I don't mind needing the u/s - I would sooner know if something isn't looking good, than find out after she's born - or have something serious happen toward the end of my pregnancy.

Emersyn was looking fabulous!!!!  She now weighs approximately 3lb1oz, placenta, cervix & amniotic fluid were all looking really good.  I had a feeling everything WOULD be fine, but as usual (for me anyway), there was some pre-ultrasound anxiety & a little paranoia going on - but as soon as I saw her wiggling around on the screen, I knew everything was A-OK.

I see the high risk ob again on Thursday, and presume I'll find out when I will have my next ultrasound, but I'm picking it'll be at around 34 weeks.  My last appointment the ob said that if this one came back perfect, that we would skip the 32 weeks u/s & do one closer to 36 weeks.  Much as it would be lovely to see Emersyn again in 4 weeks, I don't mind if I have to wait until closer to 36 weeks.

It has been amazing to watch Emersyn grow, through my seemingly regular ultrasound.  My first was at 5w6d  & she was barely there.. a tiny little speck on the screen.  8w1d there was an obvious 'head end' and a 'tail end' - but no real definition.  12w1d she looked like a human!  A very obvious head, eyes, mouth, nose, legs, arms, fingers, toes.. a beautiful sight!  19w2d she had grown a lot since I last saw her, and we saw her kicking her little legs, punching with her arms - and got to see that she was a girl.  23w2d - even more growth, her face looked more clear, her movements more precise... amazing.  and then yesterday - 27w5d, we got to see her yawning, poking her tongue out - and kicking herself in the head.  She'd also doubled in weight since the last time I saw her!  It's special to be able to watch this little human developing....

& speaking of the little human, here is a profile picture, from yesterday's ultrasound

Emersyn Georgia-May, 27w5d, 3lb1oz approx

Cool JM feature, that I had no idea about!

I rarely look at the right toolbar on JM, which contains links to various tools, articles etc... however when I saw one about fetal development month by month, I clicked on.... and then noticed a link entitled "Pregnancy Week by Week" - I am very interested in reading week-specific information, so this link seemed like a must-click-link to me!

It is awesome, very well set out and has a lot of interesting information, about how you may be feeling physically & emotionally each week, about various things you should be thinking about, or talking to your LMC about at that point of pregnancy

this is the link:
Pregnancy - Week by Week / JustMommies

I am now bookmarking this link & will use it as another way to countdown the final weeks of this pregnancy!

Saw my beautiful girl again!

On Friday I had my repeat ultrasound (at my 20w u/s they couldn't get some of the shots they needed, because of the position Emersyn was lying in) - and it was so wonderful to see my girl again!!!  She was in a bit of an awkward position again, but slightly better than last time, and eventually the u/s tech got the shots she needed... but not until I'd gone for a 20 minute walk, to try to get her to move a little!

Everything looks great - the heart & face (which were what she needed to look at) all looked perfect, and then she did all the measurements that help them determine the size of the baby, and well - little miss has GROWN!  At 19w2d she weighed 298g/11oz & then at 23w2d she weighed 640g/1lb7oz - so she's doubled her weight - well, more than doubled it & is around the 62nd percentile.

I finally got some 3D pictures as well, which was such an amazing experience - I cried when I saw the first one, and then my Mum was rubbing my foot, and I didn't have to look at her to know she had tears in her eyes as well!  We got a couple of good 2D pictures of the face as well, but no profile pictures, like I was hoping for.

All in all a wonderful experience!

Here are some pictures of my little bambino!

 

you can see the back of Emersyn's head

a little ear & her right arm/right leg

  

you can see her arm & a little sliver of her face

  

the orbits/eyes

 

looking front on at Emersyn's face

note her hand above her head

... looks like she's doing the 'peace' sign!

a couple of exciting pregnancy firsts!

This weekend I both felt Emersyn move from the outside - and saw her move from the outside!  I possibly got more excited than I should have - but it's something I didn't experience a lot of, when I was pregnant with Gaby (partly due to having an anterior placenta, partly due to having so much extra 'padding').  It felt really good to reach these milestones, and so early, compared with my pregnancy with Gaby.  I'm sure that with her I was 30+ weeks, before either of those happened, but this time it was 21w3d/21w4d.  Very cool!

I've noticed a lot of change in Emersyn in the past week - her movements are a lot harder, and I'm feeling them a lot higher (above my belly button) - I also often get a kick up high & a punch down low, within a couple of seconds of each other... always makes me smile when I feel her kicking.  Her movements seem to be a lot more regular now as well - so there isn't the same stress & anxiety if I haven't felt something for a few hours.  I have noticed that she doesn't kick me when I'm lying down in bed at night - so obviously that is now her sleepy time - because for about 3 weeks it was a time I knew I would get kicked a lot.  First night it worried me, but then I woke up at 4am & felt a lot of kicks, so figured she'd changed her sleeping pattern!

I'm starting to get a little worried about making sure I have enough clothes etc for her, for when she's born.  I really wish I hadn't gone and sold most of Gaby's newborn clothes - I could really do with them now!  I am going to need to clean out Gaby's wardrobe, because I know there are some bags of clothes in there, and bags of blankets etc etc - I really have no idea what I'll find!  

It feels so strange to be organising all Gaby's old stuff, for a new baby to wear - takes me back to when Gaby fit into the teeny tiny little clothes - and now they probably wouldn't fit on her foot!!!!!  I enjoy telling Gaby about when she was a baby, and how she used to wear certain outfits, do certain things - I think she thinks it's all a big fabrication - because as she tells me "but I'm a big girl Mummy!!!".  Very cute.  She loves looking at the bassinet, sometimes she'll just stand by it, and run her hand up and down the fabric, with this wistful look on her face.  

I can't wait until there is a baby in that bassinet!!!!

Ultrasound #3!

Today I had the 12 week ultrasound - and again, it had a very positive outcome!  Had a bit of a problem in the beginning, when my bladder was too full to get any decent pictures, so I had to go to the toilet, and then she did an internal... I didn't mind at all, because we got some really really awesome pictures of the baby!  Mum and Gaby went with me, I think my Mum got quite emotional, and Gaby got really excited, when the u/s tech explained to her what the baby was doing, at certain points in the u/s.  I don't know what the heartrate was, but going by the measurements on the u/s pics, baby is now measuring around 5.75cm!  4.10cm longer than last time I saw her (him?).

Without further adieu, here are some pictures!

 

 

 

I have a midwife appointment tomorrow morning at 10.30am, and I'm hoping we'll get to listen to the heartbeat - and to actually get a reading this time!

We officially have a fetus!

I'm 9w0d today, therefore our baby has graduated from embryo, to fetus!  It's probably silly that I'm excited about it, but I can't help myself - because it means we've passed another milestone!!!!!  According to the 'the bump' website, baby is around the same size as an olive... I don't know how accurate that is, but it's cool to have something to picture in my mind, for comparison!

I am feeling a bit more positive about the pregnancy now, I guess because we've had two positive ultrasounds - I probably won't ever feel 100% convinced that all will be okay, but for the time being, I'm going with the flow, and being the best incubator that I can be!  My symptoms seem to have settled down, I'm not really getting morning sickness anymore - I have a few bouts of nausea here and there, but I'm not vomitting each day - which is nice.  My breasts are pretty much constantly sore though - which is providing a lot of reassurance for me, and at the same time, my fatigue is 10x worse than it was a week or two ago... I don't mind though - I can handle fatigue!  Prefer it to morning sickness, any day!

Gaby & I head for Queenstown tomorrow, and I can't wait - but I still have all our packing to do today!!  It's raining, so my plans for having loads of laundry on the line probably won't come to fruition - thank goodness for the invention that is the clothes drier!!!!  I hate using it, but needs must........