My Pregnancy with Sam

**I was just going through my posts and found that I had written all this out from my pregnancy with Sam, but never actually posted it... now that he's a year and a half, I'll share it with you all!**

5 weeks 2 days

February 4, 2014 - Week 6
I highly doubt it is, and really hope, that it's not the case, but I can't seem to shake the feeling that we might be having twins. I don't know why or where I got this idea. Or, why it keeps coming back as something that my mind thinks is going to happen. But, I guess we'll have a couple weeks to wait and see. Around 8-10 weeks, we'll have a dating ultrasound, and they'll be able to see how many itty-bitties are in there.

February 20, 2014 - Week 8
We had the dating ultrasound and she only saw one baby in there... But I'm still not 100% convinced. Here's hoping she's right though! I also asked where he/she was hanging out, because I'm wondering if placenta previa will be an issue again. She said he/she was hanging out kind of low in my uterus. :(

9 weeks 1 day

March 11, 2014 - Week 11
We had our first trimester screening today. The kids and I met with Joan before the ultrasound, and I told her nothing had really changed about our family history. She loves seeing the kids! All went well, though the placenta is close/partially over my cervix. Krista (yep, I got her without even asking!) said there's a better chance it will move this time. Nora & Nate sat very nicely the entire ultrasound eating their lunch. Krista even gave each of them an ultrasound picture of the baby! So sweet! :)


March 21, 2014 - Week 12
I had an appointment with the new provider today. Jennifer seemed to think that a VBA2C (vaginal birth after two cesareans) was something that the clinic wouldn't do. I told her that Dr. Mahan said with Nate, that I could likely try a VBAC again. So when I left, I made sure I could get an appointment with her next time. If she decides that I can't attempt a VBAC again, then I may switch to Dr. Hartung (though the baby would be born in Wisconsin, and that's no good!)

12 weeks 4 days

March 22, 2014 - Week 12
Someone in one of the Catholic Mom groups I'm in on Facebook posted about getting a relic from St. Gerard, who is unofficially the patron saint of mothers, pregnancy, and infertility. I had already found a prayer (below) that I have been saying everyday in hopes of the placenta moving so I can have another VBAC, but I sent a request for a relic from him that I can wear. I can't wait to get it!

O Sainted Brother Gerard, whose heart went out to the unfortunate; who relieved so many poor, healed so many sick, comforted so many afflicted; behold me worried and troubled as I kneel at thy feet. In vain to turn to men to seek consolation and help; therefore, do I have recourse to thee thou who art so powerful in heaven. Graciously assist me, Saint Gerard, that being freed from this trial or strengthened to bear it for the love of God, I may praise and thank God and serve Him with greater love and fervor. Amen.

15 weeks 2 days

April 29, 2014 - Week 18
The scripture I reflected on this morning was Psalm 5:3, "At daybreak, Lord, You her my voice; at daybreak I plead my case to You and watch expectantly." I've been saying that St. Gerard prayer every morning, in hopes that God will hear my prayer and I've been waiting and watching expectantly for His answer. I thought it was so fitting.

18 weeks 3 days

April 30, 2014 - Week 18
I finally had an appointment with Dr. Mahan. On the way in Nora said that we were going to get the baby out of my tummy. So I explained to her that after she turns 3, then the baby can come out. Dr. Mahan said what I thought she'd say about VBA2C: totally fine. She said I'd have to have continuous monitoring though (which I did last time anyway), and if anything went wrong I'd be in the OR right away. She listened to baby's heart beat (160 bpm), and Nora remembered our talk earlier about how we need to listen with our ears and tell Dada about it when he gets home from work. Nate was just perplexed by the weird noise and watched me and Dr. Mahan the entire time.

18 weeks 6 days
Dressed up for a wedding in my bridesmaid's dress
when I was 5 months pregnant with Nora

26 Weeks 3 Days

27 Weeks 1 Day
All dressed up for a cocktail party at my
friend Anna's home. 

29 Weeks 3 Days

July 23, 2014 - Week 29

All was looking good at my appointment, except that I was measuring small (just like I did with Nora), so Dr. Mahan said if I am measuring small at my next appointment that she would order an ultrasound. She also said she'd want one done anyone to check for placenta accreta.

August 7, 2014 - Week 32

I had my appointment with the nurse today. I was measuring small again, so she ordered a growth ultrasound. I'm sure we'll see in a couple weeks that it's just low fluids like with Nora. With summer pregnancies, I find it hard to keep hydrated enough. I thought I was doing better this time around, but I guess not! I was also supposed to see the lactation consultant they have on staff, but I guess the patient before me had a lot of questions. We had a play date to get to, so I said I'd just meet with her next time, but that I didn't really have any questions at this point (since this will be my 3rd baby nursing!)

37 Weeks 4 Days

Merry Christmas Grandma & Grandpa!

Adam and I debated on whether or not we would tell my parents. We really did not want to tell anyone this time at least until the first trimester screening, when we would (hopefully) be able to tell everyone we are pregnant with a healthy baby. But we knew that my parents would keep it a secret until we were ready to tell everyone else. I thought about telling them before Christmas, because I knew that mom would end up getting the baby Christmas presents then. But we weren't ready then.

I think two days before Christmas, I thought it might be fun to wrap up the ultrasound pictures we had gotten in a box full of tissue paper, and have them unwrap it. I was thinking mom should unwrap it, but Adam said that dad should. So we wrapped them up in a small box and after we had unwrapped all the other gifts, Adam handed dad the box.
Dad opened it, pulled out all the tissue paper, and saw the little pictures. Mom leaned over his shoulder, saw what it was, and started crying. She looked at them, and handed them to Jeff, then came and gave me a hug. Jeff was slightly confused, as he thought they were of Danni, but he said the date was wrong. So mom said, "She's pregnant!"

The Results

I called the nurse midwife line Thursday afternoon to find out the blood test results. The midwife I talked to said that my hCG levels were well within the "normal" range for how far along I am, but the levels didn't double as they would expect them to. She said she wasn't worried about it.

I asked if she could tell me what the heart rate was at the ultrasound, since Adam and I couldn't agree on what the she said. She said it was 124 bpm (I was right!). :) Then she asked if we had met with an OB or midwife after the ultrasound. I said no. So she pulled up the results of that. She said there was a medium sized hemorrhage behind the placenta (about 2x2 cm). She called it subchorionic hematoma (SCH).

I found an article online that said that 1-3% of women that get SCH end up miscarrying, but most of those cases are where the women has a large hemorrhage. I'm hoping that a medium-sized one isn't anything to worry about (the midwife I talked to said she wasn't all that concerned), but I'm still a little worried.

First Ultrasound

I left school early today (after classes, but before the end of the "teacher day"), so that we could get to Woodbury in time. I had my second blood draw (they're comparing it to the first to see if my hCG is increasing), then the lady pointed us in the direction of radiology.

Our appointment was at 3:30pm, but I don't think we got called back until 3:50pm. Lindsey, an u/s tech brought us back to the exam room. I was told to come with a full bladder, something that I was never told with Danni. (For those of you that aren't sure if you need a full or empty bladder at an u/s, here's the deal... If you're not very far along (like me this time... only 6 weeks), they want you to have a full bladder so that it raises your uterus up so that they can hopefully see it with an abdominal scan.)

So Lindsey first did an abdominal scan. She found that my uterus is retroverted (tipped towards my back instead of my front). It's not a big deal, she said that sometimes they'll flip back and forth at this point, but it makes things just slightly harder to see. She could still see the baby and the yolk sac (feeds the baby until the placenta is formed). When she looked at the baby, she could see the teeny-tiny little heart flutter! The baby is okay. Of course at this point, there's no way of telling if the heart is formed properly, because for one, the baby is so small (about 1/8 of an inch), and two, the heart isn't fully formed yet.


Since I was at Woodwinds hospital, they require that she check everything. So she had to check my ovaries and measure them and check and measure my uterus and some other stuff. Then she asked me to go to the bathroom (so I would have an empty bladder), and then she would do an internal u/s.

With the internal, she checked the baby again, and we could see it a lot closer up and in slightly more detail (it still looked like a little gray ball). We could see the heart beating away again, but a little closer up. Again, she check my ovaries, and whatever, which all checked out fine.


I don't remember which part it was during, but she found the heart rate of the baby. (Which I can barely see how she could find it with how tiny it is... when they found it with Danni, it was larger and much easier to see). When I asked Adam if he remembered the heart rate he said 140 bpm, because he thought it was about was Danni's was the first time we heard her heart beat (hers was actually 150 bpm). But I thought she had said 124 bpm. So as far as trying to predict a gender at this point, we've got nothing. (They say over 140 bpm is a girl, but under is a boy). If I'm right, maybe we're having a boy. If he's right, it could go either way. I am going to try to get a hold of Elizabeth, the midwife, to see if it's recorded somewhere.

She had also taken several measurements of the baby to see how far along we are, and her measurements were only a day off of what we said. I thought she had said we were 6 weeks 2 days (where I thought 6 weeks 3 days), but the screen said we would be due August 14, and I figured August 13. At any rate, we're much closer this time than we were with Danni. So maybe I'll believe them this time!

Drama-Free Pregnancy?

Adam & I had been talking about how it would be nice if this were a drama-free, "normal," or even boring pregnancy. But last week Wednesday, something not-so normal happened.

Last week Wednesday, I started spotting a little bit. So I called the nurse midwife line, and she asked a couple questions, and determined that it should be fine, and told us not to worry. By Saturday, it hadn't stopped, so I called again. The nurse again said it didn't sound too worry-some, but to call again on Monday if it still hadn't stopped and make an appointment. I would love to say it stopped on Monday, but it didn't.

I made an appointment on Monday at school, and we went in after school. The nurse-midwife that we had was Elizabeth. She asked the usual questions. We told her that it was our second child, and she commented about how I must be a busy mom having a 7-month-old. So we had to explain to her what happened with Danni.

She did an internal exam, and said that it looked like it might just be my cervix, and nothing to worry about, but I think she could tell that we were a little more worried than most expectant parents, since we had already lost one child. So she said we had two options. I could have a blood draw and come back two days later for another to make sure that my HGC (pregnancy hormone) levels were increasing, and/or we could have an ultrasound, which might be inconclusive, since the baby is still pretty tiny at this point (they might not even be able to find the baby). We said we would be fine with either or both. So she wrote up orders for both, and brought us over to the lab.

I felt bad making the lab tech find a bed for me to lay down on to get my blood drawn (I usually get light-headed and they worry about me passing out). But he found an empty room, and Adam held my hand (without looking at the needle), and he drew my blood.

In the car on the way home, I called to schedule the ultrasound for the next day, but later changed it to Wednesday. Since we had to go in again anyway for the second blood draw, it would save us another trip out there. Of course, it's suppose to snow again on Wednesday, so we'll be crawling up 494 through the snow again, but hopefully we'll find out everything is just fine.

6 Weeks, 3 Days