Bringing You Up to Speed

So...there are many questions to be answered, I'm sure, and a few things have already happened during this pregnancy that I can catch you all up on.

We found out about this pregnancy on Christmas Day.

(That second line is very very faint because...)

I was only 3 weeks and 3 days along. The first few days I experienced quite a bit of spotting so we did not let ourselves get too excited at all. I realize many women experience "implantation bleeding" but I never had it before so it made me uneasy to say the least.

I had labs drawn the day after Christmas and then again 2 days after that and at that point we saw my progesterone was just fine and my hCG level was increasing more than appropriately so we breathed a sigh of relief. Plus on that day my bleeding stopped which helped tremendously.

Until my first appointment which was scheduled for 6.5 weeks, I tried to relax and give it to God. Easier said than done but we made it to that first ultrasound at 6 weeks 4 days on January 16th:

Baby looked perfect. It measured exactly the 6 weeks and 4 days I thought I was and had a heart rate of 125 beats per minute (the old wives tale would predict another boy based on that). And, while the baby looked great, I learned I had a subchorionic hematoma (SCH) which is basically a blood clot in between where the placenta attaches to the wall of my uterus. They're not usually problematic but I was extra troubled by the news because I have a tendency to clot as it is (my clotting disorder)...therefore I'm on blood thinners and so I was worried they weren't doing their job. However, this type of clot is not the same thing, its from something else: for the clot to get there in the first place it means the baby kinda tore away from the uterus causing the bleeding and subsequent clot. Therefore, a SCH is associated with higher risks of miscarriage. Even though the doctor did not tell us to, based on some reading I'd done we instituted a few precautions including having me stop exercising until our follow-up scheduled two weeks later.

At that point I was 8 1/2 weeks, having the regular LONG "new OB" visit and because of the clot they'd ordered another ultrasound. We got some great images of "Fin" that morning. Look how textbook:


From a pregnancy website:

8 Weeks Pregnant

See??? Just flip the image and it's nearly identical, no? So that was at 8 weeks 3 days on January 29th. That time Fin measured 8 weeks 5 days, so 2 days ahead, but that doesn't change anything. Could just be that it was a different sonographer. Anyway, heart rate that day was 174. The old wives tale would now predict a girl. Clearly there is no merit to old wives tales.

Aside from the fantastic images and news that baby was growing great, we also learned that the subchorionic hematoma had resolved on it's own. Hooray! I was super excited by that news. The clot was what I was worried about. I had a good feeling the baby was fine because between those two appointments the horrible-yet-reassuring "morning" sickness I get with my pregnancies started. And at that appointment I was give a prescription for it, the miracle Zofran that I was given with Dalton:

I'm trying not to take it much. Instead I've discovered this time that the Unisom/B6 combo works rather well for me. It's not perfect, not even with the Zofran but it's downright miserable without any help from meds, let me tell ya.

Based on the morning sickness being the same as the first two times, I'd guess another boy. I feel exactly the same as I did with the boys.

At my 8 week appointment the doctor also gave me the fun task of 24 hour urine collecting to get a baseline:

I did that on Monday when Carson was here and we were largely housebound. It's really fun to be high-risk. Not. All kinds of adventures await. Like the first trimester screening they recommend for people like me. That'll be with a perinatologist (high-risk OB specialist) at 12 weeks. My next OB visit will be at 12 weeks as well.

So that's that. Now for some of the questions...

Yes this baby was planned. Sorry you didn't know things had changed but that's how we are...we don't tell people we're trying.

Not that it took long. Fin was conceived on the first cycle of trying, just like with Easton and Dalton**.

How did I "convince" Jason? Well, there's not really a great answer to this and I wouldn't say it happened suddenly. Basically I'd say that having a third kid clearly meant more to me than not having another meant to him. He agreed to put it in God's hands. And we did.

"Why 'Fin'?" Because this is our FINal baby. The grand FINale.

fini m. (f. finie, m. plural finis, f. plural finies)

1. Completed or done.
2. Which has come to an end.

Part of the agreement to have a third came with the promise of it being THE last. I will be getting "fixed" during my C-section. Jason is so done with 3 that he is planning on getting fixed as well just so there can be no surprises later.

And so yeah, as I just said I'll be having a repeat C-section. I was anti-VBAC with Dalton so I'm certainly anti-VBA2C for myself. Not that I could find a doctor to go along with that plan even if I did change my mind.

How do we keep such great secrets? Well, we've always waited for a heartbeat to tell anyone about our pregnancies. This time, we had a heartbeat at 6.5 weeks but learned about that hematoma and that certainly kept us from sharing right away. Then we learned Jason's parents would be visiting and he's never been able to tell any of his family in person before so we waited for that. We told Carol, Gary, and my mom in person Saturday night. I wore a "Here I Grow Again..." shirt expecting people to catch on and shriek right away. Jason's parents are much more subtle, quiet people than my family and just calmly took in the news. Carol said she already knew. I accused her of calling me fat. :) My mom didn't really notice for awhile. After they found out J called his mom and July and I sent text messages (seriously!) to my sisters...Jessica got a picture of the ultrasound and Lauren got something else.

Are we hoping for a girl? Nope, we are looking forward to whatever God has planned for us. At first I was thinking about trying some things people say you can do to sway "things" in favor of a girl but in the end I did not feel I had God's annointing on that one so we just tried for a baby and that's what we've got. :) While I would love the experience of having a little girl I am truly content with maybe waiting for a granddaughter or neice or something someday. We would not have tried for a third if we were not completely okay with either gender. If it IS another boy the only thing I'm dreading is figuring out a name. If Jason is completely honest he is probably 51%-49% in favor of another boy. I'm probably the other way with a girl. I leaned towards "girl" with Dalton and boy am I ever glad God's the one in charge. I love that the boys have each other as a brother. The second we found out D was a boy I was thrilled. I love having two boys, close in age. God's perfect plan is sooooooooooo much better than anything I could come up with. So we'll see what He's got in store for us.

In fact, I'd like to wait and see. Being our last, I do not want to find out the gender ahead of time. I liked it much better that way with Easton. However, Jason preferred finding out with Dalton. Lucky for me, J's agreed not to find out till it's born.

However, for fun BabyMan and the Chinese birth charts both predict girl. The Chinese chart was correct for both Easton and Dalton and reveals a 66.5% accuracy so I guess it's already been right 2/3 times...stats would have to say it'd be wrong this time, eh? However, BabyMan reports 94% accuracy and it was wrong for E but right for D. It's all for fun. Who the heck knows??? Based on our track record and that I'm feeling the exact same as the previous times I'd have to predict boy. I really think some people are just brewed to procreate certain genders. I do.

One more thing you guys might be wondering: is this why we're finishing the basement? No. The boys will share a room eventually and the "nursery" will stay the nursery. I would not put a kid in this basement for a long time, if ever. It's just too far away from the rest of us all snug and cozy upstairs. The boys will be getting bunk beds, Easton could not be more excited but we've gotta get Diddles to stop waking up just after 6:00 a.m. first and I'm afraid he won't transition to a bed as easily as Easton did. E's been a dream in that sense. D... well...he's not ready yet. We were planning to finish the basement all along, though, if our house didn't sell. Even before we'd decided to try for a third.

Anyhoo...

This should have you rather up to date now. You now know what we've known. :) Although if there are more questions I'll work on those later. Till then...

Some little pregnancy tickers just for fun:




For my sidebar one day:



**There is more to this we'll get into another time.