Meet baby #2

First off... help me come up with a better name for this baby I'm growing instead of #2... #2 just makes me think of ... well... #2 ha ha ha! So, what shall it be? Right now for us it's just "the baby"... nothing cute yet like peanut or bean or anything like that. Can't be pumpkin - that's what we call Laura since she was supposed to be our October kiddo.

This was from the first ultrasound on July 10. For some reason they had it in the computer that I was 10 weeks along. I knew I wasn't that far. I had figured I was 9 weeks. ... but based on measurements they said I was a little past 8 weeks. We could see a strong heartbeat, but other than that, does not resemble a baby in anyway to me. I was just happy to see the heart beating. Richie was able to go to this appointment with me and see the little thumpy bumpy heartbeat too. :) After this ultrasound is when they officially changed my due date from (what I thought was Feb 12 to Feb 17th).


Our second ultrasound was supposed to be the third week in July but based on the size at the first ultrasound, I had to call and change the date for this one. We had this one done when I was 11 weeks 5 days along. This ultrasound was the one to determine likelyhood of chromosome abnormalities. NOT that we would have done anything other than carry on with the pregnancy, but it would help us prepare for what we might need to know to care for a special needs baby. In just a little under 4 weeks, look how much the blob from above looks like a baby in this picture! Amazing! Again, strong good heartbeat, but Renee didn't tell us what the rate was. Can you all tell what the parts are? Head on the right, back is along the bottom and you can see a leg on the left sticking up and the umbilical cord in the middle coming up.


This is the ultrasound I did not expect to get. This is from yesterday morning. I'm 13 weeks along... should be into the "safe" second trimester. I woke up feeling just fine. Normal day. Went to work and we were at a breakfast meeting just downtown. Finished my breakfast of bagel and eggs and homefries when all of a sudden - I felt it ... gushing.

I freaked.

Ran to the bathroom and saw any momma's worst nightmare - red everywhere.

I don't want to be too graphic, but I'll just say it was a mess and I'll be surprised if my jeans actually come clean. I started shaking and crying. I ran back to the table - grabbed my purse and books - and took off... The poor ladies I left at the meeting all felt helpless they told me afterwards. I drove home (luckily only 1 mile!) and got cleaned up - still gushing. Large golf ball sized clots (okay, so I said I wouldn't be graphic - sorry - it's my blog - I guess I can be graphic if I want, huh?)

Anyways - called the midwives and they took my message and said they'd call me back. I called Richie who was out of town with Laura and his parents to the Farm Show... he felt helpless over the phone as I was sobbing telling him I thought we'd just lost our baby. I told him I'd call after I knew more.

The office called me back a few minutes later and said they could see me in an hour. I think the time from 8:30 (when it first happened) until my 10am ultrasound was the longest stretch of time ever. So many thoughts raced through my mind. I don't care to recall those thoughts - they can be put right out of my mind forever for all I care.

I was lying on the ultrasound table and I could feel the hot tears pouring down my cheeks expecting to see no activity on the screen. Much to my delight, there was a bouncing baby AND a strong heartbeat of 159 beats! Renee did the abdominal ultrasound and then also did an internal to check the cervix and placenta. She said everything looked perfect.

I waited for 45 minutes and then saw midwife Marie. She said she could see no reason for the bleed. I think she almost didn't believe how much blood there was until she did the internal exam and saw for herself... She still could find no cause for it. By this time it wasn't gushing anymore. I got a rhogam shot since I'm B-negative. And then I got sent off with no real diagnosis or reason for the bleeding - but was told to come back at my regular scheduled appointment next week to make sure the heartbeat is good and strong.

Can you make out this picture? Head is on the left. Baby is facing you. Belly is the "blob" on the right. That's a hand up above the belly :)


And this is a butt and legs shot in case you couldn't tell. And no - we still can't tell yet if this little one is a boy or a girl. ...any guesses based on this???


Marie also gave me the results of some bloodwork - I'm not immune to Rubella (again). She said I can elect to have another MMR after the baby is born, but since I didn't convert after I had it with Laura, most likely I'm just a non - converter and it won't take again.

So, today I went back to work...but once word reached Cathe's office (my boss) ... she called me and told me to go home and not come back until Monday.