30 Week Growth Scan - Izzie B

So far things have been going pretty well with Izzie and the pregnancy.  I was going to the doctor for check ups every four weeks until Christmas.  At that appointment, it was discovered that my uterus had not grown at all in the past four weeks.  For those who don't know, at every appointment, starting in the second trimester, they measure how high your uterus is (called fundal height) and it should correspond in centimeters with the number of weeks pregnant you are at that point.  I was 24 weeks at Thanksgiving and measured at 26cm (two weeks ahead), then at 28 weeks at Christmas, I was still measuring at 26cm (two weeks behind now).  It was determined that after the holidays I would come in and have a growth scan to measure baby and fluid levels to make sure things were fine.

This whole situation made me very nervous as I had always measured slightly ahead with Brady and there was never any concern.  Fortunately, from that point, we'd be coming in for appointments every two weeks, so I only had to wait until a few days after New Years for the scan.  Being home with family was a great distraction and we were back home before we knew it.  Of course, we got sick right when we got home and I was still a little iffy when we went to the scan.  I almost passed out during the middle of it and I was even lying down.

My biggest concern was low fluid and that meaning more constant monitoring and potentially having a preemie baby.  Fortunately, the scan went great. It was almost three weeks ago now, but at 30.5 weeks the tech double checked that she's still a girl (which she certainly is!), fluid levels were great, and Izzie B was measuring at 3lbs 14oz (60th percentile).  Since it's been three weeks and she should be gaining on average half a pound per week, she's likely close to 5lbs or over at this point (I'll be 34 weeks on Saturday).  She wasn't very cooperative to get any good 3D shots and all we got was the side of her head.  The top picture is her face in 2D.

I had a regular appointment with a doctor right after the scan and she was very pleased with the findings of the scan.  In the two weeks since my last appointment, the fundal height had increased from 26 to 29cm which was good (although almost two weeks behind still).  I had another appointment last week and right before that, I'd taken some belly shots.  Looking at the side-by-side comparisons from Thanksgiving, Christmas, and now, there was almost zero difference in my visible belly size.  That started to freak me out a bit, especially since I also compared the most recent one to Brady at the same point.  I was WAY bigger with him (although some people didn't assume I was pregnant most days).  My mom pointed out that I've gained so much less weight than I did with him and that might be a factor, but I was still so nervous that the fundal height was going to stay the same again.

When I got to the appointment, I was weighed and had only gained half a pound in two weeks.  That freaked me out because the baby should've gained almost a full pound in that time.  Of course, I had a ton of time to think about it as the doctor was running very behind and I was sitting waiting in the exam room for over half an hour.  Luckily, the fundal height had increased from 29 to 33cm and I was two days from hitting 33 weeks, so she was right on track.  We really have no idea where I'm hiding here, especially since I'm so short waisted.  I guess I should stop worrying and focus on the fact that I might escape stretch marks this time around (I didn't get any until 38 weeks with Brady and even then they weren't too bad).

Something I discovered after I had Brady was that I have Von Willebrand disease, which means I'm missing a clotting factor in my blood, making me more susceptible to bleeding.  Several of my immediately family members have it and complications after Brady's delivery, so it was enough to have me sent for the testing.  It was determined that I do have it, which means I need an IV of the clotting factor I'm missing during any surgery or procedure where there would be significant blood loss.  The doctor I saw decided that because of needing this IV, it would be best to induce before my due date and avoid me going into labor on my own (I was induced with Brady at 41 weeks and 1 day).  She said I could induce any day after I turned 39 weeks and suggested a Wednesday or Thursday as there would be a doctor in the hospital those days for the full day.  It was so surreal to think that I would get to choose my child's birthday and the same would go for any other children we have in the future.  It almost feels like a huge responsibility.

The scheduling lady called yesterday, and I went with Wednesday, March 6 (right between Brady's on Feb 19 and mine on March 11), which is only six weeks from today!  Eeek!  There's so much still to do.  With Brady I was ready to have him by this point, and this time I'm thinking we have to get a ton done and I hope there's enough time.  We are in the middle of painting her nursery, we need to dig out all the old baby gear from the basement, and of course Brady turning 3 and having his party.  Hopefully, she doesn't get any big ideas and decide to come early.  Of course, now I'm thinking because she'll be a little early, she'll be smaller than Brady (who was 8lbs 5oz) and need newborn clothes, which I purposely didn't buy many of because you  never know if bigger babies will fit in them.  I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Another great foot pic.

The arrow in this one is pointing to her calf.  The tech remarked at how toned it was.  She must take after Andy because I have cankles lol.

3D Ultrasound - Izzie B

Something we did when I was pregnant with Brady was a 3D ultrasound.  It's something that's elective and you pay out of pocket, but we thought it would be cool to take a peek at what he looked like.  They say you get the best pictures right around the beginning of the third trimester where the baby has some more fat on them, but before they get to a point where they're too crowded to get any good pictures.  Andy claims he could immediately tell what Brady would look like, but I couldn't.  We were excited to go this Monday and see if Izzie B looked at all like Brady (which was our hope).

She was far more cooperative than Brady was.  We have several shots of the back of his head.  She is active as always and was more than happy to play around for the camera.

You can see her sucking on her index finger in this one.  Guess I have another finger sucker on my hands.

Rubbing her eyes (which are now open and blinking).

While we were getting the ultrasound, neither of us could tell if she looked anything like Brady.  Once we put the two of them side-by-side, we were definitely able to see the resemblance.  I've shown this to a few people and they said if I hadn't told them, they'd have thought it was the very same baby (click on the image and it will become bigger).  We can't wait to meet her!  The biggest surprise will be what she'll have for a hair color.  I pictured Brady having red hair, but that didn't happen.  She could have any color from what we have in our families. 

An add-on when you get a 3D ultrasound is getting an animal with a recording of the baby's heartbeat inside.  We did this for Brady, so of course, we had to get one for Izzie.  This time it was extra special because Brady picked out her animal (his was a bear).

20 Week Ultrasound - Izzie B

Yesterday was our 20 week ultrasound for baby #2.  We were so excited to find out whether we were getting another boy or our first girl.  We would of course be happy either way and just wanted to be able to refer to the baby by name.  Andy took the day off work so he could come and Brady was there as well.  Brady is so cute because he's so empathetic.  He remembered from last month that we would get called behind the door and couldn't wait.  When we were taken to the ultrasound room and he saw the reclined table, he started to say, "Uh oh! Owie!"  I reassured him that it wasn't going to hurt and we would get to see the baby on the TV.  The whole time he remained concerned and wanted to hold my hand through a good portion of it to make sure I was ok.  He knew I would get a shot later (flu shot) and when I did, he sat on my lap and watched.  I told him that I wouldn't cry and it wouldn't hurt, but when the nurse gave me the shot, both of his little fists clenched tight.  He's such a sweet boy!


 

We've had two different rounds of genetic testing done and both came back with the best results you can receive.  The ultrasound confirmed that the baby is growing perfectly and everything looks great!  The baby is very active like its brother and there are many times at night I have to switch positions because it's simply too much at one time.  Andy has been able to feel it from the outside and we weren't able to do that with Brady until much later.  The baby weighs approximately 15 ounces and is at the perfect size for almost 21 weeks.  The tech asked us as soon as we entered the room if we were interested in finding out the gender.  We knew going in that we couldn't handle the suspense of waiting until the baby was born, so we eagerly said yes.  She said she usually waits until the end to reveal the gender, but our baby is very cooperative and showed off its parts so clearly that the tech told us within the first few minutes.  We and a handful of close family know what the baby is and I will be doing a special Halloween gender reveal on Saturday so stay tuned!

A precious tiny foot!

The tech thought this was a really cool shot.  The baby had one leg fully extended.  You can see the bright white lines of both leg bones.

The really cool thing about my new doctors is that they have the capability to do 3D ultrasounds.  We weren't able to get a really clear shot because the baby kept putting its hand near its face, so this is the best one we have.  They don't have much fat on them at this point, so you can only make out a very skinny, skeleton-like face.  We paid to have one done at 29 weeks with Brady and will do so again with this baby.  Andy claims that he could perfectly picture what Brady would look like from that ultrasound, but I still couldn't.  It will be cool to compare the two and see if they'll look alike!