Second Ultrasound

So I got back from Thailand yesterday evening and scheduled my ultrasound for 9 am the next morning, can you say I was a bit anxious?! Everything looked great the baby is measuring at 10 wks 6 days and I am 10 wks 4 days so that is good. The heart beat is 158 bpm and was moving all around!! The Dr. was nice in spending a lot of time showing us all the arms, legs, feet, different angles and chatting about the baby. Mr. Explorer Bud and I were thrilled of course. I was really nervous that there wouldn't be a heartbeat just because there is a chance that happens and I really haven't had very much in the way of symptoms. Now I can just relax, enjoy being pregnant and start planning for this baby. I need to decide if I will go with a midwife and if so who and where I plan on having the baby. Oh and I can start to think about where to put the baby's room and all that fun stuff!! I am soo happy that things are going well and I get to go off Progesterone in a week. I drop my dosage down to .5 cc's and then we will retest to make sure I am still high enough. Here is the ultrasound pictures

The sweetest sound!

I went back to my RE last Friday (5/18) for another ultrasound after my spotting scare.  Needless to say, I was worried sick and didn't sleep well the night before.  My mom took the morning off to go with me since Mr. Bossy Bud can't get a lot of time of from work. 

We arrived 30 minutes late due to being directed off of the interstate because a truck overturned.  Then, it took my RE 15 minutes to come into the room.  It was all worth the wait, though.

Baby Bossy Bud looked great; measuring at 7 weeks 1 day. :)

I think I've listened to this video a dozen times already.  It's music to my ears.






Bossy Bud

13w2d!!! <3

Hello! Hope everyone had a great weekend. Ours was busy, but nice. :)
With the end of the weekend not only came the start of a new week, but another appointment at the perinatal center for our integrated screening. We arrived at the office a little before 9, and were seen by 9:30. The moment the tech placed the wand on my belly, there it was again... Our LO
He/she behaved better this time... Allowing the tech to measure the heart beat easily (which was at a strong 156). He was also able to measure our sweety from crown to rump, and we found that he/she is measuring about 2 days ahead :) After that, our LO had enough and decided to turn over again. Needless to say, nothing else could be done after that.
Since this was for the integrated screening, they had me speak to the Doctor about our options. He explained that due to my age (and even more so because we don't have a family history) I have a 1 in 700 chance of having a baby with downs. So for every 10 out of 7000, the test they were doing (ultrasound blood test combo) reveals 9 of the 10 cases. Blood test only reveals 8 out of 10 cases. Because we are already so close to 14 weeks, we opted to just have the blood test done. The Doctor explained that since the chances are so low, he was not concerned, and felt that everything would be fine. I need to return on May 16th for some more blood work, followed by another ultrasound on May 30th. Hopefully at that appointment, we'll be able to find out the sex of the baby :) We really would love to know already!!! I even researched local 3D ultrasound places that will tell you the gender at 16 weeks or after... I'm considering it ;) Here is a picture of our LO...





Anyway, I though I would end this post with a story about something that happened to me today. Sorry if it's TMI, but these are just some of the things that happen to pregnant women. Anyway, I was lucky enough to catch pink eye last week, landing me in workers comp (since it's a contagious disease, and I work with kids). I needed to visit the clinic for the last time today to get officially discharged, so I did. Before I left, I was feeling a bit queasy, so I threw up a bit... No biggie, I felt fine. When I was at the clinic, and talking to the Doc, I started feeling funky again. I threw up a little before getting in the car again, and then got back in the car to head home, only 4 blocks away. I didn't make it. I literally threw up all over myself and inside my 3 1/2 month old car. So gross. I got home, cleaned off, and that was that. Feeling a bit funky still, but fine, I guess. Hopefully I won't continue to see episodes of MS anymore, or anytime soon...
That is all for now :)




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Feeling blessed <3

Well, here I am... Ready to give my update on today's ultrasound.

Mr. DBud and I met up at our house, a couple of blocks away from the perinatal center, and drove to the location together. We arrived, checked in, signed some paperwork about integrated screening, and waited. When we got inside, we dove right into the ultrasound portion of the test. The moment that the tech placed the want on my abdomen, there it was! Our baby :) Our little Miracle. I couldn't stop staring at the screen! What an amazing feeling! The baby wiggled and kicked and punched... He/she gave the tech a very hard time measuring the heartbeat, but he finally got it! It measured at 154 :) Excellent!

Then, the tech attempted to start the necessary measurements for the test... But Baby didn't think that was such a great idea ;) instead, they turned over, and stayed that way. There was nothing we could do to get him/her back on their back, or even upside down, for the measurements. After several tries, the tech decided to reschedule me for Monday, to which I agreed. The blood test will also happen that day.

Words cannot explain how happy we are :) the baby looked great, and put on a real show for us!

I'd like to introduce you to our Baby :)




Until next time ;)




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So excited!!!!!

Today is our 1st of 2 integrated screening appointments... which means we will get to see our little miracle on the big screen!!! I am super-duper excited, as is Mr. DBud. He missed the last ultrasound due to a work conflict, so he is REALLY looking forward to seeing the baby today :)

I am currently 12w4d, and am hoping we will start being able to get a glimpse of our LOs "angle of the dangle". When my cousin was KU with her first, s

he had a super clear ultrasound before her official Anatomy Screening, and based on this information (which I found on the internet), I predicted she was having a girl... and she did! Apparently, you can start telling at about 12 weeks. Granted, you shouldn't run out and buy everything pink or blue, but you can start having an idea of what it may be :) Pretty cool, huh?

I am hoping and praying that everything will be ok... I know that God is looking out for us, and that what is meant to be will be. There is always still a bit of a worry at the back of my mind... but I know that if everything is ok today, the worry will start to die down a little more each day. I will be thankful for that :)

Assuming that everything is "A-OKAY", we will be officially spilling the beans. I will make a few calls, and make one special visit to announce the news, and then it's off to Facebook for the final announcement. I found a really cute idea on Pinterest, which Mr. DBud is on board for... so it should be fun and cute :)

Anyway... Hope to have a GREAT update this afternoon/evening or in the next couple of days. It's tech-week at the

Opera, so things are nothing less than SUPER hectic. Please continue to pray for us, and send us all the positive vibes you can :) Thanks a million!!!!!!!

19 weeks

Before I get into how everything is going, I just want to tell everyone that we found out on Monday that we're having a BOY!! =oD Mr. CB and I couldn't be happier. You ladies know...with our histories gender doesn't matter in the least; just a healthy baby. Anyway, everything looked good according to both the US tech and my OB. Lil Man weighs 11oz and apparently was feeling happy that morning because he was waving, stretching and being fairly cooperative with the tech. He even had the hiccups a little! I can't wait until we starting picking out names and working on the nursery.

Other than that wonderful news, everything has been going well. Not having any nausea and my sleep has been pretty much nil. I bought a body pillow last weekend because surrounding myself with normal pillows was cutting it. The pillow is super comfortable but I'm a little too tall for it because the middle doesn't line up with by belly right (I'm 5'8") but I'm surviving. I do notice that my ankles are swelling a little bit but I have been on my feet a lot this week with work with our new medical records system. My hair is growing very quickly, and coming out more when I comb it (only in the shower when it's wet because it's so curly) and my acne has gotten better except on the 4 week increments when I would normally be on my period.

I'm feeling Lil Man move around a little more in there, but I'll admit to wanting to be far enough along so that I can feel every movement and have family/friends be able to feel him move as well. I've never been very patient, but I have no choice in this matter.

I know I haven't posted any pictures of myself (ever, I think) and I need to post a pic from the ultrasound, but unfortunately that may have to wait a little bit. We're going to New Jersey tomorrow for my brother's graduation from Coast Guard boot camp. So I'll try to get on here to do that this weekend or early next week.

Talk to you guys next time and thinking about all of you!

A bump in the road.

AF finally showed her face Friday afternoon. I've been on Spring Break this past week, and all I've done is wait and pray for her to come. I had three tentative appointments (Monday, Wednesday, & Friday), but I couldn't go to any of them because she hadn't arrived.

I almost cried tears of happiness when I saw red on the toilet paper. I called Mr. Bossy and my mom to tell them the good news. I was so excited to finally get the ball rolling. We had waited 3 months to do our FET. I phoned my nurse and she set me up for a 8:15 appointment on Saturday. I happily set the alarm clock for 6:30 am Friday night (our clinic is an hour away), put out my lucky socks (I'll explain these in another blog), and had my green outfit (Saturday was St. Patty's Day) selected. I was ready. I had to force myself to go to bed Friday night. I felt like a child on Christmas Eve.

Fast forward to Saturday morning. Mr. Bossy and I make the hour's drive to our clinic. We walk in to the clinic where I greet the receptionist with the biggest smile. We take our seats and wait to be called. They called me back for blood work first. Finding a vein in either of my arms is always a challenge for the nurses. I'm not the type that looks away when they insert the needle; I have to look. I don't mind the pinch, and it never really hurts very much. The nurse inserted the needle and MAN, did it hurt! We had to go back to the waiting room and wait to be called back for the ovary check.

The nurse called my name within a few more minutes and we were walking happily toward the examining room. She even commented on my dress, and said that it was the perfect outfit for an ultrasound. She left us in the room to get situated, I put on my socks, and waited on the table. She came back rather quickly and we began the ultrasound. She made a comment that we were looking for a nice thin lining and no cysts. I kept my eyes glued to the screen. Then I heard her say- Ohhh. My heart dropped. It didn't sound good. I looked closer at the screen and saw it. A huge, honker of a cyst. She confirmed it. She said that the doctor on call would have the final decision, but she didn't think we'd be able to proceed with the FET. I had waited 3 months for this? I must be cursed.

Mr. Bossy and I left the clinic and attempted to salvage our day. We shopped a little on the way home. I was in Hobby Lobby (one of my favorite stores!) when the nurse called me with instructions.

The bad news- I wouldn't be able to proceed with the cyst.

The good news- I have to take two more weeks of birth control pills and return on April 2nd to see if the cyst has shrunk. If it has, then I can move forward on the date and I don't have to wait for another period. The nurse also prescribed me some stronger birth control pills.

Mr. Bossy was so sweet. He said if we can wait 3 months, then what's two more weeks?! My mom was also encouraging and called this a "bump in the road." I'm still really disappointed, but I'm trying to look on the bright side. At least, I don't have to wait 3 more months...




Bossy Bud

Good news is good news :)

It's been a minute since I've posted... But I have a lot to share :)

For starters, things are progressing well, and with progress came my first ultrasound for Gestational Dating, which took place yesterday (Friday). I cannot even begin to express how thrilled I was to see our little Frijol on the screen :) he/she measures between 7w6d and 8w1d, which is what I predicted, making my Dr. off by a week (since he was going by my LMP and not my actual O date. Also, it proves that FF was off by 2 days for my O... If you look at my chart, you'll see FF put my O on 2/2, but there's another temp drop on 2/4 followed by a subsequent rise. I officially arrived at 8 weeks today, Saturday. My new EDD is 10/27 :) without further adieu, here is our little Frijol...




He/she looked excellent, and the ultrasound tech was very happy with how everything looked. We also got to hear a very strong heartbeat at 178bpm. I am over the moon!!! Can't wait to see our little Baby again on 4/16 for our next ultrasound.

Meanwhile, I have been totally exhausted... All I want to do is sleep! And I get slight moments of queasiness, but not much cookie tossing. I've only had one instance where I woke up at 5 in the morning and had to visit the bathroom to pray to the porcelain Gods. My boobie soreness comes and goes, and I've had these terrible headaches on the right side of my head, but I've had this terrible nasal congestion that is finally is beginning to subside. Other than that, I am as happy as can be :)

Hope to have more info and updates soon :)




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12 weeks and counting...

Well girls, I've hit the 12 week mark! YAY! It's so hard to believe...surreal, but wonderful. I'm starting to get a little excited now.

I had my ultrasound and 1st trimester screening on Monday and everything looks good. Skittle was just hanging out and wasn't really moving much when all of a sudden it was wiggling all over the place! The tech was chasing it with the wand. It was awesome to watch and weird because of course I can't feel anything. She got some pretty cool pictures but couldn't get any of the 4D (?) ones because Skittle was being so stubborn and not staying put. Not that I mind any. Oh, and I got the results of the 1st trimester screening today and it was negative for Down's...not that that would have been an issue. My BP was 118/70, FHB was 158 and my weight was up 2 pounds from my 8 week ultrasound. My OB said that I can stop the progesterone as well which made me nearly as happy as the rest of it. *wink*

My next appointment is for the 28th for just a regular checkup. I'm still going to be finding the FHB often just for my peach of mind and shear enjoyment.

To Diva, Bossy and Buckeye: I pray for each of you in all of my prayers. Good luck to you!

PS ~ Sorry this picture is flipped...I couldn't get the darn thing to rotate!

20 Week Ultrasound Picture

20 Weeks

Yesterday we had our 20 week ultrasound. Mr Lucky Bud came with me and we dropped off the kids at his sisters house. I was pretty anxious, nervous and excited to be able to have the ultrasound. It was a bummer that the technician would not turn the screen until all of her measurements were done. I had to wait for about a half hour of Mr Lucky Bud saying, "oh, that is so awesome!" before I got to see what was going on too. She was moving around like crazy. I could even see her mouth opening and closing, and it looked like she was swallowing. The technical said that it looks like our baby is 11 ounces. We should get the results of the ultrasound tomorrow, so hopefully there will be nothing to report.

I can't believe I am halfway through my pregnancy all ready! Before 20 weeks, the baby is measured from head to rump, but after 20 weeks it is head to heel..so at 20 weeks it is 10 inches long, head to heel. I was holding up a ruler to show Mr. Lucky Bud today, and I can't believe how big she is!

 I had been doing great week 19 symptom wise, but was also very careful that week about eating enough and getting lots of protein. I got kind of caught up with some projects early on in the week and did not take as much care and did not get enough protein, and I went back to feeling awful. I have been working hard to focus again on my diet, but it is still taking some time to feel good again. I am showing a little more than I was a couple weeks ago, and have gained more weight, so I am a total of 10 lbs over what I normally am and that is great!

 I can feel the baby moving all the time now. Especially because during the ultrasound I was able to see when she was moving and to associate it to how it felt, so now I can tell the difference a lot better between kicks and my stomach growling, or air bubbles. She moves so much now, but it is not uncomfortable because there is plenty of space in their. If she keeps up all the action though, it is going to be hard to sleep at night as she gets bigger and there is less space!

Over all, this is a very fun and exciting time. I am feeling pretty good, I am not big and uncomfortable yet, I have had the great reassurance of getting to see my baby on the ultrasound, we know that it is a girl, we are meeting the donors this weekend, so things are great right now!

...still hoping to have an ultrasound pic up soon. I need to have it scanned at Mr Lucky Buds work.

20 Weeks

BTW, Just an interesting fact: My mom did not realize that she was pregnant with her 6th and final child until she was 20 weeks and could feel that baby moving. That is crazy! She is lucky though. It must have been a fast pregnancy!

A weight lifted...

I decided to call my OB/GYN yesterday to see if my US could be moved up to this week since that's when they wanted it done anyway. A couple of hours after leaving the message for the nurse, she called and told me that it was scheduled for today at the hospital at 9:15! I was utterly surprised and excited. (My provider at work persuaded me to get my beta checked again because I worrying "too much." To my surprise it was over 188,000! The absolute highest it's ever been.)


Anyway, my mom went with me this morning and this is what we saw...

HAAaaaaaa. A sigh of relief, a few giddy giggles and a high five later the tech measured the heart rate at a strong 170 beats per minute. It was beautiful. And exciting. And exhilarating. And miraculous. To have never gotten this far in a pregnancy and to make it to this milestone...no words.

Thanks Buds for the support and I pray that we all will have Baby Buds in the months to come!

Waiting and worrying...

Today marks 7w 3d of this pregnancy. So far, time seems to be moving at snail's pace. My "confirmation ultrasound" is scheduled for Jan 9th but I plan to call the doc's office on Tuesday to see if it can be moved up (remember, they had originally wanted it this next week). The suspense is killing me. I'm so scared that this baby has stopped growing like my first two.

I'm still having symptoms everyday: nausea, food aversions (chocolate! Can you believe that?), headaches, fatigue, breast tenderness. But a part of me is worried that the same thing has already happened and I'm just feeling these symptoms because I'm still pumping my body full of progesterone. My mom is going to go with me to the next US because poor Mr. CB is too scared. He bout broke my heart a couple of days ago when he said that he feels like he's bad luck. =o( Of course I assured him that he is NOT and that as far as we know, there was nothing we could about the first two MC's. So, bless his heart, he won't know the results until he comes home from work (his job does not allow cell phones on the premises).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etc. And I hope that 2012 brings a slew of new babies for all my Bud sisters! =oD

Okay so the ultrasound went well. YAY! No HB yet. US tech said that it was too early, even though the dr's office told me that my beta's were high enough that I may. Oh well. I was/am perfectly happy with the healthy sac and baby measuring right where it should (5w 5d). My doc wanted another US in 2 weeks, but with the holidays they didn't have any openings until 3 weeks which is Jan 9. I'm okay with that though. I am worried, too, because this 3WW has been where baby has stopped growing in the past. All signs point to a healthy pregnancy so far so I'm working on staying optimistic.

30 Weeks

Belly Measurement/Weight: 30 centimeters (not inches!)/ -2lbs from last week.

Physical Progress: My belly button is definitely an outie. My daughter thinks it is because the baby's finger is poking it from the inside.

How I am feeling about my body: I have been feeling good about my body but now I am at the point where I just feel huge. When Mr. BB and I try to get intimate its awkward and frustrating. I think we are on hiatus until we try to kick-start labor around my due date.

Energy Level: I.Am.So.Tired! Like First tri tired.

Baby Movement: Still a lot of movement. Baby likes to kick both his/her feet into my bruised ribs. Baby also sticks their butt out a lot.

I had a follow up ultrasound yesterday and my fluid levels went up so no more extra monitoring! We could see that Baby B has hair which I was super excited about! He/she is still measuring in the 90% for weight. This makes me nervous for delivery! We also got to watch Baby blink and suck, so cute!

Growth Scan

Apparently this morning the little guy decided that my full bladder was a good trampoline. Quite the sensation to wake up to (ouch!). During his time in the bouncy house, he had a very notable flip. When I first started to really feel movement, he'd flip all the time. The last few weeks I'm pretty sure he's been transverse (sideways) with his head on my right. It was quite a different feeling having him flip this morning. Much more noticeable than it was a few weeks ago.


This morning was my growth ultrasound to check on him and make sure he's plugging along like he should be. I had to chuckle when the the tech found him in there folded in half and breech as can be. Ha Ha! Bounce on Mommy's bladder and look where it gets you!

Sorry for the image quality. That's his head to the bottom left and body just to the right of that. In front of his face are his little shins and feet.

I'm not concerned about the breech thing yet, he's got quite awhile yet to do a 180 for me.

He did well at the scan. The average for his measurements was 27w1d. I'm 26w4d right now, so he's within reason. Heart rate of 144 bpm. Estimated weight of 2lb 2oz. Most of his measurements were right within the normal range. I'm a little concerned about his femur measurement (7th percentile) and his head measurement (95th percentile...kinda freaking me out in regards to delivery with that one), but the doctor said it was all within the normal range so I guess we're alright.

I probably should do my 26 week update now as well since my other post this week will be on a completely different subject.

For the most part its more of the same this week. He's still wiggling around in there (as I type this, actually). It turns out I was right with my suspicion that The Girls might be kicking things up a notch. Started noticing a little leakage earlier this week. (Sorry if that's TMI, just telling it like it is). I've been dealing with what I believe is Carpal Tunnel issues with my hands as well. Mostly its manifesting as a tingly ring and pinky finger on one or both hands. Definitely more prevalent on my dominant hand. Sometimes the joints in my hands are achy as well. Occasionally I have nights when I'll wake up in pain as the bottom arm of whatever side I'm sleeping on has fallen asleep. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is pretty common in pregnancy (the swelling in late pregnancy can increase the pressure in the carpal tunnel leading to the issues I'm having).

In other news baby shower gifts are starting to arrive! Our shower is in a couple of weeks on the other side of the country, and a bunch of our friends and family have been shipping stuff ahead of time. Its been great having stuff trickle in and getting to gush over it all. I got my outfit for the baby shower today after the appointment. Feels good to have that out of the way as well. I seriously can't believe that we leave in less than a week to go on the baby shower trip. Where has the time gone???

Impromptu Anatomy Scan

I feel a little weird doing two posts in a row, but I don't want to leave people hanging after the last post.


Yesterdays appointment with a specialist turned out to be A LOT more than just a consult. I'm so incredibly thankful my husband was able to get out of work in time to join me.


Not only did we get a consult, but we also got an impromptu anatomy scan. They did a Level II u/s looking specifically for the markers of Downs Syndrome, but also did a general check to see how the little one was doing overall. Since I'm far enough along to tell if baby is a boy or girl, we got to find that out a couple weeks earlier than expected as well.


Baby BOY did not have a single marker detected on the ultrasound for Downs Syndrome. Not one. I was especially relieved to see the heart looked perfect given my previous experience with Downs babies.



However, since only 50% of Downs babies have detectable markers in ultrasounds AND our risk ratio was so high (1:10), we did an amniocentesis yesterday. That's really the best way to get a conclusive yes or no answer at this point in the pregnancy. Results of the amnio should be back in a couple of weeks. Yeah, the wait will stink...but I'm feeling so incredibly much better about the situation after seeing Baby Boy pass yesterdays ultrasound with flying colors.


The anatomy scan itself was pretty neat. They looked at everything it seemed. Head measurements, heart, kidneys, toes...you name it. I'm kind of bummed the images of the little guy sucking his thumb didn't make the cut for the CD we got. Also there was one of his little leg and foot that was precious that we didn't get a copy of either. Its really amazing to see how much he's changed in the last month. He's gotten a lot bigger and has a lot more meat on his bones. Finding out the gender was just a bonus, but we're absolutely thrilled. My intuition was right!


The amnio was nerve wracking, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. Once I told them we were going to go for it, they whipped out a pre-sterilized kit and got right to business. Everyone gloved up. I got swabbed down. From there they took the ultrasound wand and found where baby was. They got him turned so he was facing away from where they were going to poke and pinned him there by keeping pressure on the ultrasound wand. I didn't watch the needle go in, just kept my eye on the ultrasound screen. The needle prick didn't hurt much more than any of the bazillion blood samples I've given this pregnancy. It was kind of scary seeing a needle in the same tiny space as our little one, but they did really well to stay away from him. I'm under doctors orders to take it easy the next couple days and to go to Labor & Delivery if I have any signs of infection, fluid leaking, or possible miscarriage. Thankfully I've had none of that thus far, just some discomfort at the needle site on par with any other time I've been stuck.


This picture sums up how they did the amnio better than I probably did. (Photo credit: http://modernmedicalguide.com/amniocentesis/.)



Funny moment after the amnio yesterday: As they were decanting the sample from the needle into vials after the procedure was done, I blurted out, "Wow, it really does look like pee." Classic.

19 weeks already!

I cannot believe how fast time flies during 2nd trimester. I've been traveling almost every week for work, and on the weeks I'm home (about once a month), we've been doing *something* baby related. I'm writing to you today from my hotel in Asheville, where I'll be until tomorrow. This might get long, I apologize!

Here's where things stand:
Today I'm 19 weeks, 3 days. My last doctor's appointment was at 15 weeks, and my next appointment is on Tuesday (20w1d). (I'm supposed to be going every 4 weeks, but the last two have been 5 weeks apart thanks to scheduling limitations on my part--I'm hoping to schedule the rest of my appointments at Tuesday's visit--24, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41). Baby is now the size of...something. The fruit tickers seem to be off. Apparently this week is a mango but next week is a cantaloupe? Seems like a large jump to me!

I'm feeling great--energetic, my appetite is back, I've lost most food aversions and am not having too many cravings (and none for weird foods), and I'm physically comfortable. Emotionally, I'm doing well too. Mr. Magnolia Bud and I still worry about the financial aspects of having Baby MB--especially daycare--but we're budgeting and will make it work.

Speaking of daycare, we decided a few weeks ago to put off looking for a placement until we'd each hammered out our leave options at our respective jobs. This week we were able to do that--he'll be taking a full week once the baby's born, and then working half days for the next two weeks. I'll be taking off from the time the baby's born (sometime in September) until work resumes after the New Year (Jan. 3). Most of my leave will be paid, except for December--which is do-able for us financially. We're both so excited I'll be able to stay home for almost four months, and that the baby won't have to start daycare until he/she is a smidge older than we originally thought.

We had our anatomy scan on April 20, and everything looks great. I was 18w2d, and baby was measuring 19w2d--a full week ahead. Femur and humerus were measuring 19w4d...so we're hoping that means we're going to have a tall baby, just like us! Baby also weighed in at an estimated 10 ounces last week. Here are our favorite pictures--the first is baby with his/her hand behind head, and the second is baby pointing which direction is "out" {it was head down, heehee}:




I've also finally started showing! Some days I still just look a little chubby, but here's a pic from this week:


Mr. Magnolia Bud finished painting the nursery, and we finished our registries at Babies R Us and Amazon. If you have any suggestions for registry *must haves,* please let me know! Almost everything on our lists came about as a result of recommendations from other moms and mommy bloggers.

I think that's it for now. Hope you're all having a great week!
Love and baby dust to everyone...
Magnolia Bud

My Miscarriage

I want to preface this post by saying that this IS NOT about my current pregnancy. It is about my first pregnancy, which occurred in November 2010. I purposely backdated this post (it's really May now) so that it would not appear on the front page of Bloomin' Babies and alarm people. I feel like it's important to get my story on here though for those going through similar, particularly since I referenced this blog when I was going through my loss, so here goes...


Please be warned that I am going to speak frankly, and sometimes graphically, about the experience. If either of those things bother you, please scroll on by this post. For those living through a miscarriage, knowing the nitty gritty details is important...and this post is for them.


I got my first BFP on November 9, 2010. For a few glorious days there were the first few signs of pregnancy. The slight nausea, super smell, exhaustion beyond words. That all changed around 2am on November 12.

I was woken up around 2am by excruciating cramps. They whipped around my right side, felt like they were following my abdominal muscle. The pain was so intense that it woke me from a dead sleep and had me crying out in pain. The cramps moved like lightning. There were two or three waves of them, then they disappeared. I never felt another pregnancy symptom after that moment. Not one.

The next morning I felt totally normal...which made me really uneasy since I'd been exhausted in days prior. Around noon, the spotting started. At first it was brownish red, by bedtime it was pink. When I woke up that morning, there was absolutely no question what was happening. Bright red blood. Lots of it. This was on November 13th, a Saturday. Since it was a weekend and we had company in town, I wasn't able to get to the doctor until Monday morning. I knew there was nothing they could do to save the pregnancy at that point, so I didn't feel it was urgent for me to get checked out. Nature was taking its course.

On Monday the 15th, I was able to reach my doctor and they got me in as soon as they could. By that time I was passing clots in addition to the heavy bleeding. Cramping was present as well, though it was never horrible, moderate mostly. There was tissue passing as well, including **graphic warning** the embryo. I'd never heard nor read that they embryo would be recognizable at the gestation I was (5w1d). It passed completely intact within its amniotic sac. That was the single image of the whole miscarriage that was burned into my brain. It literally looked like the 5 week image from the Pregnology website (www.pregnology.com), except with the sac. All told, it was about the size of a ping pong ball.

At my appointment on Monday, the doctors office was awesome. I didn't realize this until I went in for my current BFP, but they got me in immediately (so I didn't have to sit amongst the visibly pregnant ladies) and brought me in to a neutral exam room (as opposed to the one with Tinkerbell stickers in it I went into for this BFP). They asked me to describe what I'd experienced and I could tell by the look on the doctors face that my thought of miscarriage was right...especially when I described the embryo. She did a pelvic exam and confirmed an open cervix & heavy bleeding. The diagnosis given was "partial spontaneous abortion". (Don't even get me started on how awful it is to have the word 'abortion' given to you when you are having a miscarriage...) She said the 'partial' part was because it was still ongoing. She gave me paperwork to get an ultrasound done to confirm the progress of the miscarriage a few days later. They needed to make sure all of the "products of conception" got out so that there were not further problems down the road.

The ultrasound a couple of days later was not AT ALL like I'd imagined my first ultrasound would be. For starters, I kicked things off by warning the tech that things were a bloody mess down there when he asked me to get into the johnny. I have no idea how I held myself together in that ultrasound room. I think being a scientist helped...I found it fascinating that he could tell what was my ovaries, see the fallopian tubes, even see the bleeding. Physically there was some discomfort, particularly when the vagcam bumped the cervix. As it turned out, I was experiencing the best case scenario for a miscarriage. I completely fell apart when I got out to the car.

The doctor saw me again a couple of days later and confirmed that I'd now experienced a "Complete Spontaneous Abortion". My bleeding lasted 7 days total, with the worst happening in the first 3-4 days.

There were all sorts of aches that went with the miscarriage that caught be by surprise so I want to be sure to mention them. For a couple days in the thick of the miscarriage my cervix and uterus felt really irritated. For about a week after that, my ovaries just ached and ached.

My cycle returned exactly on time, 29 days later...though as charting post miscarriage would show, the ovulation date and length of my luteal phase changed post miscarriage (changes in your cycle are common, as it turns out). For the first couple of post-loss cycles, things were haywire physically. One month my boobs ached excruciatingly during the 2ww. Another month my ovulation pains were intense (I occasionally feel them, but never more than a twinge...this was waaay more than a twinge).

Emotionally during the whole miscarriage experience I just felt broken. When I got the BFP it felt like it was my job to protect this little life and I'd failed. I felt like I was apparently incapable of doing something that women have been able to do since the beginning of time. There was an incredible amount of fear that subsequent pregnancies would have the same ending and that this was the first sign that we would have a much more difficult road to having a family. I'd never realized until I was experiencing it how incredibly hard it is to go through even the earliest of miscarriages.

I realized that most likely there was something wrong with the baby from the moment of conception (~50% of all miscarriage prior to 6 weeks are due to chromosomal abnormalities rendering the baby incompatible with life). Thing is, hearing that there was probably something wrong with the baby and it was probably for the best wasn't comforting. My first thought when I was told that (and I'm being completely honest here) was, "Great, so you're telling me we can make little mutant babies..." Hearing that there was likely a chromosomal defect to my 34 year old eggs was far from a comfort.

One of the only things that really gave me comfort, was thinking of the people I know who had a loss of their own and had gone on to have one (or more) healthy babies. People like my friend K, who had a late 1st Tri loss and went on to have three kids. Or my friend S, who had a chemical pregnancy and at the time of my loss was 20 weeks pregnant (she's since delivered a little girl). Or my mother, who had a miscarriage just before she conceived my youngest brother. The hope that their stories gave me is why I'm sharing my story with you. I feel that its important to talk about pregnancy loss. Its important to remove the taboo. Its important for those going through it to know that they aren't alone, that this is (unfortunately) quite common...and most importantly that it is in no way their fault.

I've Been MIA--Updates Galore!

I have to apologize for being MIA over the past few weeks. Work has been nuts, and I've been running around nonstop trying to get stuff done at home too (in between work travel and personal travel). It's been overwhelming at times. So I'll get you updated, and now that I have a new laptop, I'll be updating you far more often :)

Baby is doing great! I'm 16 weeks, 5 days today. We had our 15 week appointment two weeks ago, and talked about nutrition (I'm doing well but need to eat more veggies), the midwife answered some questions we had, and then we got to hear the heartbeat again (150's). Our anatomy scan is scheduled for April 20, at 8am. We're still team green, but are looking very forward to seeing Magnolia Bud v2.0 again. Especially because it may be our last ultrasound until we meet him or her in September if everything continues to go well. I am starting to get concerned that the ultrasound will show a shorter cervical length than we'd like, because my LEEP was still less than a year ago. But there's nothing we can do about it between now and the ultrasound, so I'm trying not to think about it and not to worry.

We've been thinking about working on our registries, so after our 15 week appointment, we went to the birth center's store and tried on some baby carriers. We both loved the Moby, and even Mr. Magnolia Bud was able to get it tied properly after one try. We also loved the Ergo, and think those two will work well for our family. We're going to be spending some serious time working on the registry this week and next week.

Around the house, Mr. MB has started painting the baby's room. We chose Sherwin Williams 6764, Swimming, as the wall color, and are leaving the trim and ceiling white. The first coat is done, and Mr. MB will finish the second coat later this week when I'm out of town. He's also going to be painting our bathroom and the guest room while I'm out of town--so all we'll have left before MB2.0 gets here is our room, the hallway, MB2.0's bathroom, and our fourth bedroom. Haha, now that it's in writing, it sure seems like a lot!

In terms of baby gear, I told you a while back that we bought our co-sleeper, right? Mr. MB set it up in our room to see how it looks, and it's become a permanent sleeping place for one of our cats. Our room is huge--stretches across the entire front of our house, and it doesn't have much in it but our bed and nightstands--so the co-sleeper isn't in the way. Knowing that, we're just going to keep it up for now. We're borrowing a crib from our best friends, and Mr. MB set that up in the baby's room to make sure all the parts were there and get it cleaned.

We set a date for one of my showers--Mr. MB's family is throwing us one on July 31, when I'll be 33 weeks. My mother in law is so excited about anything baby--it's really cute. She's already called all of her friends to tell them to save the date, and she's going to be sending out invites at the end of next month. I don't think my mom is throwing us one anymore, which is fine with us--I'd much rather her put her effort into one great one for my sister, since she's only having one.

Otherwise, I'm feeling great. I have my energy back, the weather is great (70's-80's and sunny most days), my job is overwhelming but I'm doing fairly well at it, and I can eat again. I've started gaining weight (up 5lbs from pre-pregnancy), my nutrition is on track, and we've started reading childbirth books. Our birth classes (8-week series at the birth center) start May 2, and will be every Monday night from 7:30-10pm. We also signed up for a breastfeeding class at the birth center on September 1, and a Baby Care Basics class at the Women's Hospital near our house in July.

Hope you're all doing well! I'm loving reading about all of my fellow Buds' journeys.
Lots of love, Magnolia Bud