November Autumn Babies

[Zoboe95]

10 week vs 11 week bumpie I'm not arching my back and sticking my tummy out as it looks in this photo my top has a black bit that was hanging down!! ...I feel massive again at the no, but it seems to fluctuate day by day!! ...I have at last started putting weight on though, because I'm actually eating properly again! Just planned a last minute night away with family friends next weekend, which , all being well, will be the perfect opportunity to tell them our news! They live quite far away, so I was going to have to tell them by phone otherwise! Conveniently the trip was their idea, so they won't suspect anything!

 

[ashknowsbest]

zoboe - you have a cute bump starting!

I'm so excited for everyone, especially because we're all so so close to the second trimester. I'm so hoping we all start feeling fabulous!

I posted about my placenta that was lying over my cervix and how at my 12 week scan they said they weren't sure (because they didn't actually check!) but said that it DID look like it was no longer a problem. Well, my OB looked over the ultrasound pictures and contacted me on Thursday evening and said it didn't seem to an issue anymore although it is still low lying but that I could get back to regular activity! Woot

 

[Zoboe95]

Great news Ashknowsbest! ...always lovely to know these things have cleared up! ...I still can't decide if I have the start of a bump, or just loads of bloat, but I've certainly put on weight this week!

 

[ashknowsbest]

I can't wait to have a full on baby bump because then I don't have to worry about the bloat or looking fat. I can just look pregnant.

 

[WishnandHopn]

I think your bump looks rounder this week Zoboe!

That’s such great news Ash, you must be so relieved!

I think my bump is starting to show more...either that or now I’m bloated in the morning AND at night instead of just at night. I think I’m starting to feel better, little to no nausea but still terrible indigestion after I eat. I’ll be 14 weeks on Monday. Bye bye first tri!

 

[NoGreaterLove]

Cute little bump Zoboe!!

Ash, that’s fantastic news about your placenta! Full on bumps will be here before any of us know it. But I love having a full round belly instead of this in between stage.

Wishn, yay for feeling better and for second trimester tomorrow!!

I’m starting to do better. Yesterday was a bit rough, but overall I’m feeling good and have note energy. I’ll be 14 weeks later this week and looking forward to second trimester.

 

[ashknowsbest]

nogreaterlove - I'm absolutely relieved. I'm attempting a VBAC for this birth but if the placenta was over the cervix I wouldn't even be able to attempt, I would automatically be booked for a c-section. It was scary. I just hope it keeps moving up. Fingers crossed!

My son has pneumonia so we're all hanging out at the house today watching movies. Why are kids always sick? I swear we've been sick since October and I am getting so fatigued by it all. Just feels like a constant battle. It is what it is.

Woohoo for 14 weeks nogreater and wishing. I can't wait to get out of the first trimester officially.

 

[LAR83]

Ash, glad you got some confirmation that things are looking better now and that you don't have to restrict your activities. Sorry to hear you have been dealing with sickness for so long!

Zoboe, cute bump! I am exactly as far along as you but have zero bump so far. I had a bloat bump, but it disappeared and my stomach is flat now. I'm looking forward to getting a real baby bump.

wishn and nogreater, congrats on entering the second trimester! That's a huge milestone. I am a little confused though... from your posts, it looks like you were saying you were entering the second trimester at 14 weeks. Doesn't the second trimester start at 13 weeks?

AFM, I did the NIPT test last week at my midwife's office so I should know the chances of chromosomal abnormalities and sex sometime this coming week. Looking forward to getting those results. This past Friday, I had a scare because I went to the bathroom and my underwear was fully covered and drenched through to the bottom in blood... so this was no longer spotting. It was the heaviest the bleeding has been since the last time I got my period. I called my midwife and she basically said I could go to the ER if I wanted reassurance over the weekend, but otherwise I will have to wait for an appointment. The bleeding stopped (I did get some today when I wiped, but nothing like I had Friday night), so that's good. I also threw up three times yesterday... which was a record for me, because prior to yesterday the most I threw up in one day was twice. I hadn't experienced nausea or vomiting for a few weeks, so it kind of threw me off guard. I read that vomiting can be related to miscarriage, but I'm hoping that since the blood has mostly stayed away since Friday that things are okay and that the vomiting is a good sign. The truth is I don't know for sure what is going on in my body, but I am trying to stay as positive as I can, because I convinced myself I was miscarrying in the past and got worked up over nothing.

 

[ashknowsbest]

LAR - Technically if you take 40 weeks and divide that by 3 you're in your second trimester at 13w3d. Most doctors that I've spoken to say that 2nd trimester starts at the end of the 13th week. And not to scare you just giving you my experience - when I had my big bleed it was because of the placenta being over the cervix. It's actually incredibly common in early pregnancy because the placenta doesn't really have very many places to go and it can cause a huge bleed while everything else with the pregnancy is ok. Just so you know, miscarriage risk because of a placenta covering the cervix is extremely low. Anything can cause the bleeding if it's over the cervix, coughing too hard, doing too much activity, even sex, lifting too much weight.

I'm sure everything is going to be fine but I know how scary a large bleed like that can be. Best of luck!

 

[NoGreaterLove]

Ash, that’s great that you’re going for a vbac! A lot of women I’ve talked to who have had prior c-sections elect another because they say it’s easy. I know some are medically necessary but I don’t know that I’d volunteer to have surgery as it terrifies me.

Lar, sorry to hear about the bleeding. With my first I had a large amount of bleeding, so much that it stained our rug because it was gushing as I ran to the bathroom. It was after sex and after an uneventful night in the hospital I was cleared. Is it related to relations? I really hope you get some answers soon. From what I understand the second trimester begins at week 14 and ends week 28.

 

[ashknowsbest]

nogreater- I do NOT want to have another c section if I can avoid it. I didn't even want it for my twin pregnancy but unfortunately because of my son's health I didn't have an option. I've never experienced a vaginal delivery so I don't know what the recovery is like but I did have a VERY easy c-section recovery with my first delivery. I think by 6 days past the surgery I was no longer taking pain meds but I made sure to listen to my doctor and get up and walk as soon as possible that way I could get things moving and heal. It worked!

There are couple reasons I want a VBAC this time. I want to feel labor (I didn't even have contractions last time). I know, I know I'm insane but I just want to know what it feels like. It took me so long to get pregnant I really want to at least know what other women go through to have their babies. I also need to avoid a c-section because we have another embryo on ice that we plan on transferring once this baby is a year old and if I have a c-section there's more scar tissue and more things that can go wrong with the embryo implanting. Also, 3 c-sections is risky. I know women do it all of the time but once you get to your 3rd it increases the risks associated with the surgery to a level that most doctors aren't even that comfortable with. So ..yeah I've had serious conversations with my doctor about this and she's totally on board and agrees that I've thought a lot about it. I've thought of the good, the bad and I really need to have VBAC to decrease the odds of something bad happening for my next pregnancy and my next delivery. Sorry to bore you!

And of course if my VBAC doesn't go as planned it is what it is but I have to at least try I'll always do what's best for myself and the current pregnancy no matter what.

 

[LAR83]

no greater, no we haven't had sex in a while so that wasn't it. and ash, if I had something like placenta previa, wouldn't that show up on the ultrasound? or might it be hard to detect? the doctor who evaluated my ultrasound said he couldn't find anything that would point to the cause of the bleeding.

Interesting.. when I google how long the 1st trimester is, some websites say it ends at week 13 and some say it ends at week 14. I guess I have longer than I thought to get to the end of the second trimester.

Hope everything continues to go smoothly Ash so you can get your vbac.

 

[ashknowsbest]

Lar - official placenta previa cannot be diagnosed until week 20. They don’t normally note the location of the placenta until week 20 unless you have a lot of bleeding (hence what happened to me and how I knew it was low lying) because before then it is normally pretty low since it has nowhere to go, and they don’t want to worry patients for no reason. Most of the time a placenta that is found to be low lying will have moved by week 20. 90% move actually. When I had my bleed and went to the ER they didn’t even note the low lying placenta but my OB did when I had a follow up the next day. I’m sure if you asked they would tell you where it is but most patients don’t even know to ask. It’s one of those neuroses I’ve developed from my infertility ptsd so I know more than I should.

 

[LAR83]

interesting... so you think my doctor might not have mentioned to me that my placenta looked low, even though the scan was specifically to try to find answers about why I was bleeding?

 

[ashknowsbest]

When did you have the scan? Was it for this episode of bleeding or a different episode of bleeding? If it was the first time you bled and depending on the amount they may not have even looked that closely at the placenta. You can look up the stats. Most pregnant women in the first trimester have a placenta that is close to the cervix so they don’t mention it because they don’t normally consider it significant but ignore it causes a lot of bleeding (im talking period style bleeding) or you continue to bleed a lot, not spotting, then I think MOST would check out the place tan. I guess it’s possible that some won’t even look because they just don’t think it’s medically necessary. I pushed my doctor to look. Maybe that’s why they told me?

 

[LAR83]

I didn't get an ultrasound after I bled heavily on Friday, but I did the ultrasound after I had been bleeding regularly and increasingly for a period of 3 weeks. I wasn't supposed to have a scan at that time, but I had one just to make sure baby was okay and also to determine if there was any apparent cause for the bleeding. The bleeding was definitely a focal point of my conversation with the ultrasound technician and the doctor because they considered it a threatened miscarriage, but both the technician and the doctor said they couldn't find any apparent cause for the bleeding. Then again, I have no idea how closely they looked at where my placenta was located. I guess I will ask them specifically if my placenta looks low, to see what they say about that. Maybe I will get answers or maybe I won't, and ultimately that is okay with me as long as the baby is okay.

 

[NoGreaterLove]

Ash, I don’t think you’re crazy at all for wanting to experience labor. I love feeling and seeing what our bodies are capable of doing. Giving birth is a pretty surreal experience. I often look at the video of my little one’s birth in amazement. You have a fantastic doctor to be able to talk openly and honestly about your wants and needs. Too many doctors these days fail to listen to patients because they think they know best.

Lar, I hope you get answers soon. I know some women still get periods during pregnancy. But it doesn’t sound like that’s what you’re experiencing. Sorry you’re going through this.

 

[WishnandHopn]

Ash, I also don’t think you’re crazy to want to experience labour! Realistically, I know this might be my only pregnancy, and for that reason I am really hoping to experience natural childbirth without drugs. Labour, pain, pushing, the whole nine yards. Women are amazing and have been doing this for millennia! We are of course lucky to have modern medicine these days so that there are interventions available to save moms and babies lives if things go wrong, but I am really hoping to have the full experience myself. (Maybe I’ll be singing a different tune when I am in full active labour, and screaming for an epidural, but I hope not)

Big hugs Lar. In your place, I would probably try to get in for an ultrasound asap, just to put your mind at ease. If it turns out your bleeding is caused by placenta covering the cervix like Ash’s was, they might want you to take it easy, or even bedrest. It’s been a few weeks since your last ultrasound, right? They might be able to see more now. Especially since you had that heavy bleed. Praying everything turns out well for you.

 

[ashknowsbest]

nogreater & wishn - thanks for understand! My fertility doctor look at me like I was crazy when I told her I wanted to do an unmedicated vaginal birth. I feel like the pain is sort of a passage into motherhood or something. I always felt robbed of the experience with my twins. Grateful to have had them in the first place but things didn't go as I had hoped.

wishn - congrats on second trimester! You must be so so relieved

 

[NoGreaterLove]

Honestly, I didn’t think the pain was as bad as I expected. Big needles and surgery scare me so I knew it was either a natural birth or them knocking me unconscious to give birth haha. I know medical interventions are sometimes necessary so I always keep an open mind.

Wishn, second trimester yay!!! How does it feel? How do you feel?