We found out we were expecting in mid May and were thrilled. A little back history but with Gemma, we experienced a few health concerns while trying to conceive so I was very nervous about trying again.
The first trimester was ROUGH! I was very sick. Mostly extreme exhaustion and nausea all day and all night with the occasional vomiting to go along with it. What stunk even more was Joseph was stuck working the shifts for his strike thing at work. So he was gone from 2:30am to about 3:30pm Tuesday to Sunday and then exhausted every night as was I.
Around the end of July/early August, the nausea went away and food sounded good again. Everything looked good with the doctor and pregnancy was back to normal for me.
Our ultrasound was at the beginning of September. Due to how sick I was, I really thought it was a boy. I recalled being pretty sick with Tanner and thought I felt better with the girls. Well, the ultrasound tech showed us and it was clearly a girl. I couldn't believe it. I was so sure it was a boy at that point. It took me a long time (and still sort of am) to process that it's a girl. I had a boy's name all picked out as I was sure it was a boy. And now to know that I won't use that name is sad. Oh well!
A week after the anatomy scan, I had a fetal echo done to check on the baby's heart. When you have one child born with a heart defect, you are at an increased risk of another child having one. So I went to our awesome pediatric cardiologist who sees Gemma. She did the fetal echo and all looked great. At this point, we have no concerns for heart problems. Obviously, if a pediatrician hears anything after birth, we'll head back. But we should be good to go with just taking Gemma to see the cardiologist every few months for the next foreseeable future.
We told the kids about the baby after we found out the gender. It was a little hard keeping it from them until 19 weeks but I don't get big fast so they couldn't tell. They knew I had stomach issues over the summer but that was all.
Second trimester went smoothly. I traveled to Wisconsin during it and felt fine. I did get hit by a nasty stomach bug and then influenza back to back for two weeks. This wiped me out energy-wise and I could barely function with the kids. It was a rough week or two but the doctor said all was okay.
So far, third trimester has been manageable. I'm tired a lot but it's hard to determine what is from pregnancy versus what is from having three young kids and trying to stay active and up on housework. I also am teaching two sections of my course this semester, which always leads to a little more stress. For the first time during a pregnancy, I am having difficulty breathing. The doctor feels it is the baby's position on my diaphragm that is causing it. I don't recall experiencing this with the others, even when I got to the last few weeks. As long as it doesn't get worse, I guess it's okay.
Verdict is out on if baby girl will come early like Ashton and Tanner or make me wait until closer to the due date like Gemma. I have family coming to visit a week before she's due so I wouldn't mind if she made her arrival in time to meet them. We will have another growth scan next week to check on her size and all. That will be a first for me. My old doctor didn't do any additional ultrasounds but my new doctor seems to like them more. I'm okay with that since insurance pays for them.
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