Pregnancy Update and ER Visit 2.0

So much has happened since the last update that I don’t even know where to begin. Currently I am 16 weeks 5 days pregnant with our little boy, Caleb Robert. 

  
My morning sickness has still stayed away. Thank goodness it wasn’t just a fluke. I have continued having itchy ankles, legs, arms and abdomen as well as restless legs. The itchiness got so bad that I finally caved and called my doctor a few days before our monthly OB appointment. It was preventing me from sleeping I couldn’t imagine waiting a few more days. I had tried everything. There was one night that I was laying in bed, encased by my pregnancy pillow, covered in calamine lotion with Vicks vapor rub on the soles of my feet with socks on them and frozen bags of broccoli covering my legs. Just to try and get some sleep. I should have had Hubby take a picture! Anyways, I gave them a call and left a message. I got a response that afternoon that they wanted to bump up my appointment to the next day because they were concerned about the itchiness. 

  
The first thing the doctor wanted to check at the appointment was the spot on my cervix they saw last time. Luckily the results of my Pap had come back and negative so there wasn’t too much concerned. Well, up in the stirrups and I go and guess what? The spots (plural) were still there. Smaller. But still there. She said they appeared to be filled with fluid and tested one. It contained tissue as well. She decided to take a biopsy of it right then and there. Yup. Worst fear of this appointment confirmed. That was not a fun experience. Definitely not something I want to do pregnant or not. Apparently I was bleeding a lot and she had to put some magic cream on it to stop the bleeding. Luckily, the pathology report came back the other day and the sample was normal! One crisis averted!

Now it was time to talk about the itching. Since I have a history of gallstones and the itching was mainly on my ankles/legs and wrists/arms, my doctor was concerned I have intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP). Normally it shows up in the third trimester but it is possible to appear earlier. It can be very serious for mom and baby if left untreated, especially in late pregnancy. She went ahead and had some blood drawn to check my bile salt levels as well as my iron levels for my restless legs. Those tests came back normal, thank goodness! Want to know what the culprit was? We changed our laundry detergent from Ecos to Baby Dreft and apparently I am allergic to it. Once we switched back, within a few days the itching went away!!

  
Today, I called my doctor because I have had a migraine for 2 days and my pregnancy safe meds were not working. I was advised to go to the ER to get some medication to break the cycle. I met my husband there and was taken back fairly quickly. They were very nice and efficient and I saw the doctor immediately. He prescribed what he called “The Migraine Cocktail” which was all pregnancy safe medications. Pretty soon I was hooked up and given Reglan, Benadryl and magnesium. So shortly after the Benadryl kicked in the nurses came in with a fetal doppler to listen to Caleb’s heartbeat. Since I have one at home and I know exactly where he is, I advised them. Of course they didn’t listen to me. She tried for about 10 mins to get his heartbeat but couldn’t find it. At this point I wasn’t super worried because she wasn’t pushing very hard or in the right place. I even offered to do it since I know where he is. She ignored me. She had the other nurse go and get the ultrasound machine. She found him but in her words “I can’t find a discernible heartbeat” and proceeded to ask the other nurse if she saw anything. At this point, in my drugged stupor, I started to worry. A few more tense minutes (probably seconds) pass then I saw him move! Sigh of relief. She still didn’t find the heartbeat on the ultrasound but when she went back to the doppler she found it. I honestly don’t think she had any idea what she was going. When we got him I found his heartbeat within 10 seconds on our doppler. Definitely a great investment!

  
So I realize this long update is filled with drama and issues I have been having but in reality it has been a very positive few weeks. We got the mural painted in the nursery and got the crib built. We also visited my mother in law who broke her hip a few weeks ago and she gave us a load of wonderful things for Caleb. We have been doing a lot of housework and yard work. It has been nice to finally be showing and have a baby bump to rub! I will leave you with a few pictures of the nursery: 

   
    
    
   

Hello, Second Trimester!

It’s hard to believe that we are finally in the second trimester!! The last 14 weeks have felt so long, but have also seemed to fly by! I am happy to report that I am feeling A LOT better! I no longer have morning sickness and have gotten a HUGE energy boost. Right now my biggest complaints are itchy ankles, restless legs and back pain. We did the Panorama test during our 11th week and are happy to report Baby came back as low risk in all categories for chromosomal abnormalities! Yes, we do know if Baby is a boy or girl and we even have a name! We have shared this with our family and friends, however stay tuned for the big announcement! 

  
I had some difficulties in my first trimester with the Crinone. We had to stop it around 9 weeks due to extreme cervical inflammation and irritation. When we went to our first OB appointment during Week 11, the doctor noticed a spot on my cervix that concerned her. She even brought in another doctor to look at it. We are awaiting the results of my Pap and go back for our next appointment in a week. We are hoping that the spot is simply residual inflammation from the Crinone, because when I say my cervix was inflamed I mean it! It was sticking out. For real. If the spot is still there and the same size next week there is the potential I will need a cervical biopsy (again!). I was assured this won’t affect the pregnancy, however it will cause me to bleed A LOT due to increased blood flow down there. I have been putting this in the back of my mind because my first cervical biopsy was a very traumatic experience and if we need to do one, it will be safer for the baby and I if I am sedated. 

This weekend we were able to get some housework done. We planted a tree out front and painted the nursery. A friend of mine will be coming this week to paint a mural for us. We are doing a Lion King theme. My mother-in-law bought us the chair for the nursery, my parents bought the crib and we bought a chifferrobe this weekend. All these pieces should be in town for pickup sometime this week. I am taking advantage of feeling good while I can! Who knows when I will start feeling tired again. 

This is the crib we chose from Babies at Us:

  
Zoey is doing well after her amputation. She is far more active than I thought she would be. She goes back on Friday to have her staples taken out. She is walking and running and even doing stairs. Sometimes she wants to do more than we would like so we have to keep an eye on her. It was a great decision to amputate her leg. She is back to her normal self. Her personality is back and we can tell she is in far less pain. 

   
 
I am finally starting to show a little so I think I will be doing weekly bumpdates going forward. We also bought a Fetal Doppler and I have been able to listen is Baby’s heartbeat a few times. I found it fairly quickly and was pleased with myself! I think that is all the news for now!