Pregnancy Update

I realized I haven't written an update on this pregnancy or my condition in a hot minute!

If you read this post, you know about my condition and the risks implicated. So far I haven't had any complications with my body, but when I went to my last checkup, my doctor told me about complications with this baby boy.

At the 20 week ultrasound, you know the one where they check all the organs, size of the head, bones, etc. The doctor found a concern in baby's kidneys. The openings from the kidney to the urinary tract, the funnel shaped part, if you will, was bigger than normal in both kidneys. He sent me to the specialist, which I hate going to, but I'll do anything for this baby.

I went to the specialist and after looking at the baby and measuring the openings, everything looks normal! Yay! I am so relieved.

Here I am at 28 weeks, ready to take the glucose test this week and so ready to meet this baby!

How far along: 28 weeks.

Gender: Boy.

Maternity clothes: Of course! Some of them don't fit me anymore ha!

Sleep: Awful! Nothing is helping anymore. I'm about to jump on the essential oil train!

Best moment this month: Just feeling baby boy karate chop me at all times of the day.

Worst moment this month: Heart burn! Ahhhh! And this awful heat!

Miss anything: I actually do miss a good alcoholic beverage. An ice cold beer sounds REALLY good right now. 

Movement: Tons like a ninja!

Cravings: Watermelon, anything with chili, coffee (yay!), salads, pretty much anything refreshing. Same as it has been.

Queasy or sick: Nope.

Looking forward to: Getting over this heat, getting some rain, and kicking my feet at the end of the day!

A couple of past bump update pics.

26 weeks.

27 weeks and jamming out. :)

Hoping this week goes by fast!

Hump Day Bumpdate

Yesterday Jack and I went to the doctor for my twenty week visit. This pregnancy has truly been flying by and I cannot believe I am halfway there! Smooth sailing from now on, fingers crossed.

Here's a little update on how everything is going-

How far along: Almost 21 weeks. Eek!

Gender: Still a boy! It's funny because as the ultrasound tech was trying to look at baby boy's parts, he was crossing his legs so hard! I jokingly asked "It's still a boy right?" and after trying for a few more seconds, the tech was able to say that yes, it's still a boy. Jack and I found out we were having a boy at 10 weeks with a blood test, and I asked the tech if those can ever be wrong, and he said they could if done too early. It's definitely a boy. :)

Maternity clothes: ALL THE WAY! This belly is growing a mile a minute. I keep telling my doc that there's twins in there, he can't find the other one. ;)

Sleep: Finally started sleeping better. I pulled out my pregnancy pillow from the closet and it is life changing. If you're expecting and you don't have one, please go get one now. You'll thank me later.

Best moment this month: Yesterday's checkup! There's nothing more reassuring than having this ultrasound to find out baby has all the bones he needs, his brain, kidneys and heart look really good plus listening to his heart beat is literally music to our ears. Also, the doctor told us that I am a good candidate for vaginal birth after my c-section which is both exciting and terrifying. 

Worst moment this month: Everything has been good! 

Miss anything: After being so sick with this pregnancy for the first 19 weeks, I thought being grossed out by the smell of beer or any alcoholic drink would never go away. Now I'm craving a really cold Corona! Ha. Irony.

Movement: Tons! According to the ultrasound tech, baby boy is breech right now. It's not surprising since I feel kicks all day long right on the bottom of my belly. 

Cravings: Watermelon, anything with chili, coffee (yay!), salads, pretty much anything refreshing.

Queasy or sick: Not anymore!! 

Looking forward to: Jack and Elliot feeling the baby kick. I'm dying for Elliot to better understand that there's actually a little person in my belly, just as he was! Right now he knows there's a baby, but blows me off when I tell him the baby is kicking or ask if he wants to see a picture of the baby. He says "He can't see it" while looking at my belly. Ha! 

The Truth About My Pregnancy (Five Things Friday)

Instead of writing about five things I'm liking this Friday, I will tell you about five things that are very different in my second pregnancy.

Obviously every pregnancy is different, but just how different? Let's see.

1. Morning sickness (aka ALL day sickness)- This has been the biggest difference with this pregnancy. I was sick ALL day everyday for about sixteen weeks and still get a little nauseous in the afternoons sometimes. It was by far the worst I've ever felt! I'm so glad I'm over it for the most part. I was sick only a few times with Elliot and by twelve weeks, it was completely over.

2. Tiredness- I am tired 24/7. I remember being tired with Elliot's pregnancy, but only for the first trimester then slowly gained my energy back. Plus we lived in a 500sq/ft apartment and cleaned it in about an hour. Adding a toddler to the mix isn't easy! Having a house to clean is exhausting! Working forty hours a week is also tough. Eternal exhaustion should be in the parent dictionary. Whinertown as well. ;)

3. Weight gain- I never really lost all of the baby weight I gained with Elliot's pregnancy (I gained a lot!), and that didn't help at all on this one. Besides the fact that I started showing way sooner, all of my weight gain has always gone to my mid section. I am so uncomfortable this time around since I am much bigger than I was with Elliot at this point! I've gotten a few comments about that and I know they're not ill- intentioned at all, but I still feel self conscious about it. I have been eating much healthier and I do feel so much better about that. It was free for all with Elliot's pregnancy.

4. Irritable- With Elliot's pregnancy, my hormones were in all the right places I guess, Jack says I was so nice and not hormonal at all (ha!). I agree with him. This time, I find myself getting frustrated easily with Elliot. Add all of the above mentioned points and that equals a very irritable me. I hope it gets better!

5. Miserable- All in all, I will be completely honest and admit that so far, I haven't been enjoying this pregnancy as much as I should. Don't get me wrong, I am ecstatic about our little addition, but I'm not enjoying what my body is going through as much this time around. I'm admitting this in hopes that there's a few of you out there who are on the same boat. Is this normal? Did you feel this way? Does it go away?

The one thing I am fully loving right now is that I get to feel this baby boy moving all over, and I can't wait to be further along for Jack and Elliot to feel him too. I also love that my body is carrying a baby and I know that once I have him in my arms, all of these feelings won't matter one bit. I know I will think back and laugh at this post! I'm looking forward to that. For now, I want to be honest about what I'm going through right now. I didn't want to admit it, but once I talked to Jack about it, I felt so much better. Oh the joys of pregnancy! :)

I Am Heart Shaped

For today's post, instead of giving you an update on my pregnancy, I want to tell you a story.

With this second pregnancy, I truly expected everything to go normal just as it did with Elliot's. His was a breeze compared to this one in every sense of the word. I was sick only a few times, tired yes, but mostly able to function and ate everything in sight- literally.

I know everyone says every pregnancy is different, and boy that couldn't be more true for me. Jack and I went to the very first sonogram to hear the baby's heartbeat and to get the first picture. I had both a belly and an internal ultrasound. I think I was about eight weeks pregnant. We heard the heartbeat then saw the little gummy bear, but not before the tech broke the news that I had a bicornuate uterus. Huh? A what?

When I was seventeen, I went to the doctor for a checkup and he had mentioned that I had a uterus shaped differently but never said how, or gave me any explanation. I left it at that.

Back with the ultrasound tech, I asked, what is that? He then mentioned that I basically had a split uterus or heart shaped as it is informally referred to. He double and triple checked, and yeap, he confirmed. I was taken aback because if I remember correctly, he was actually the same tech that I had when I was pregnant with Elliot! I'm not sure why it hadn't been discovered before.

He let my doctor know what was going on, but we didn't get to talk to him since he was called in to a c-section. We went in the following Monday and that's when we sat down with him and he explained my condition. We wouldn't know if my uterus is completely split in half or a true heart shaped one unless I undergo an MRI which is something that isn't in my plans. He also said that this pregnancy is considered high risk as with this type of uterus, the baby usually doesn't have enough room to grow, sometimes the pregnancy doesn't develop, or premature birth can occur. A bicornuate uterus is the product of a malformation when I was in my mom's uterus, isn't that insane? The human body is mind blowing!

That actually explains a lot now with Elliot's pregnancy. He was a little bit early and weighed only 5lb. 7oz. I had the worst contractions and couldn't control the pain; I had to undergo an emergency c-section. My doctor went back to Elliot's ultrasounds and we found out that he developed on the left side of my uterus and this baby boy is on the right side. Craziness I tell you.

I was so relieved when Jack told the doctor that we wanted to see this pregnancy as normal and not high risk, why have the added worry? I already delivered one healthy baby without having all of this information about my body. We already have so much to worry about as it is, we don't need or want any extra. We leave it in God's hands. The doctor agreed with us but said that I still needed to go see a specialist and continue to go till the end of my pregnancy. Just to make sure me and the baby are okay.

We had a scare where I had some spotting and cramping that lasted a few days, but after a quick visit to the doctor, both of us are doing great.

So there you have it, I have a heart shaped uterus that is carrying a second baby and so far so good, thank God!

Do any of you have this or any other condition that you found out about until you were expecting? A second baby nonetheless? :)