February 27, 2008

• Pregnancy story and belly pictures (I’m sure much to the horror of many … sorry!)

  First things first … my due date is July 30th 2008.  Weeks in bold correspond to the photos above.

  

  Week 1-9… starting weight was 143lbs (gulp!), which is about 10 lbs more than pre-pregnancy with Zachary.

  Week 10… my first ob appointment, which included a bunch of blood tests. I weighed in at 148lbs … 5 lbs up!

  

  

  Week 11 … my 2nd ob appointment, where I had an ultrasound to confirm and date the pregnancy. Fetal heartrate was 165. My weight stayed the same. My blood work was good except for low red blood cell count … so it was back to the lab to get more blood draws. 

  

   

  

  12-13 weeks … I went to get my first trimester screening (apparently it’s okay to be in the 13th week for the latter part). It was a 2 part appointment… first for an ultrasound and a second for more blood draw and another ultrasound. 

  14 weeks … I created a Babiesrus and Amazon baby registry to get freebies and coupons. It’s crazy how little I need the second time around, especially since I have friends willing to loan out their supplies. This is a good thing because my friends were so generous the first time around, there is no way I could ask for more presents and still save any of my dignity. I am using it as a shopping list.

  

  Week 15 … 3rd ob appointment. I’m up 3 lbs for a grand total of 151lbs. Fetal heartrate ranged from 140-150. The ob told me that the results of the blood test showed I had Thalassemia b minor. There will be a few checkpoints, and depending on my numbers, I may need a blood transfusion. I hope not! I finally told my manager and co-workers the big news … now maybe they’ll be nicer to me and give me more systems.  My plan is to stay at home until #2 is 6 months old and then go back part-time until s/he’s a year old. Barring major complications, I’m sure I want to have a full time career again after that.

  

  Week 16 … got the results back from the first trimester screening… I have a very low risk (1:10,000) for Trisomy 18, but an elevated one (1:200) for Downs Syndrome. How stressful! They took more blood for the quad marker screen. I’m starting to wonder if my low blood count is a direct result of all these tests!

  

  Week 17 … I think I may have felt some tiny kicks. But I’m not 100% sure. And good news … my combined 1st trimester and quad screen resulted in much better numbers. Downs Syndrome is now 1:2,100, Trisomy 18 stayed at 1:10,000, and neural tube defects is at 1:3,600.

  Off the topic of pregnancy, Alice and her friend Kathryn stopped by over the weekend on their way to Tahoe. And on Monday, I hosted a girls get-together dinner and wii evening.

  

  Zachary’s favorite books are the ‘Fun with Phonics” set. I picked up 2 at his school’s book fair at 50% off and had to buy the other 2 for full price from Amazon. The books have these spinners at the end of it for him to practice rhyming words, which helps him read the book. I also ordered him “Animal Antics: Now I’m Reading!” (levels 1 and 2) used from eBay. They seem a bit harder; he struggles more with that series. He did read his first book ever from that series though  … the book was “A Whale Tale.” I think it was sometime 1-2 months ago, I can’t fully recall. Ideally, Zachary will be a decent reader by the time #2 is interested in being read to. I think the Duggar family has it right. If you have the Nth kid take care of Nth+1, it’s less work for the parents. I was thinking about teaching Zachary to cook too, but then #2 would live on mac/cheese and milk. And that would also imply that I can cook.

  • 12:16 am
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