20 weeks

20 weeks today. i know that the next quarter will fly by, and the final quarter will drag on forever. i'm ok with that. god knows i have enough to get done in the next 20 weeks, so i'm in no hurry.

i've had the last week off of work, and despite the choas of the holidays, i managed to get a few things done. we've decided that cohen and lili will be sharing the larger bedroom - we're going to hang a large curtain in the middle of the room to divide it up for them, and paint each side however they want it - and baby will have the smaller room. jaedyn and brae will have the bedroom downstairs - either together, or we will create a room for jaedyn in the nook that is currently unused.

now that this is decided, i have to get to work! paint to buy, furniture to pick up (thanks to ALL of my lovely friends and family who are donating their old baby stuff!), etc etc.

in other news - our ultrasound tech was so very unconvincing regarding the sex of this baby - she said, "i'm leaning towards a girl"... although a few minutes later she did say, tell your husband he's going to have another daughter. i've gone through this conversation in my head a million times, and although i know from experience that they won't really tell you the sex at all if they are quite unsure, i still don't think that she was sure enough.

so - we've decided to book a private u/s to find out for sure. we aren't going for the super-fabulous 4-D one, just the basic 2-D one. still, $100 bucks. oh well. since we are having to purchase all of our baby stuff all over again, i need to be sure so that i don't go spend a fortune on little girl clothes only to be surprised in the delivery room.

speaking of little girl clothes...
here are some of the first purchases... the first two are the ones i bought, the other three were purchased by my step-mother!
































so adorable. i can't help it, little girl clothes are SO fun to shop for. here's hoping i don't have to take them all back... the private u/s is booked for January 4th!

m.

thanks for the effort, but...

Geez, a little research sure goes a long way.

There is no way that they can confirm the tumour is benign based on an ultrasound. The stats are in my favour, but still, further tests are needed to confirm either way.

Did she think I wouldn't check? I work in health care. Come on.

Calling my family doc tomorrow, I am NOT waiting 6 months to know.

to worry or not to worry, that is the question...

Well, I had my Dr's appointment today... and got some really interesting news.

First - my glucose test was normal, hurray. I still have to do the 3 hour test at 26 weeks, but at least I'll have 7 weeks of not having to go to the GD clinic!

Second - turns out the u/s tech caught something during the u/s... has nothing to do with baby. Turns out I have a benign tumour on my spleen. Now, I get the meaning of the word "benign". But when you say "tumour", it just doesn't cause happy feelings, ya know? Anyways. I have to go for further testing after the baby is born.

Third - the tech spotted a small shadow on the babies heart. Apparently it's fairly common - seen in 2-5% of all pregnancies. However, it is something "sometimes seen" with babies who have Downs Syndrome. However, "there's no need to worry".

Really? No need to worry, eh? Look, I'm a pragmatist, but if there was truly "no need to worry", you wouldn't have told me to begin with. The best part is, they will not do any further testing.

I went through this with Lili. The whole "single umbilical artery" thing, which could lead to severe kidney problems and is ALSO sometimes seen in babies with Downs.

So, I do nothing. We chose against genetic testing to begin with, and we did that because we'd determined that it would not change anything for us (we would not abort). However, IF there is a chance that we are going to have a baby with Downs, at the very least, I want to prepare myself - find support groups, do research.

I know. The chances, they are very remote. I just hate that they would mention it without offering the possibility of further testing.

So, today I will worry, and then I have promised myself that I will put it out of my mind.


OTHERWISE, she says, everything looks fine. I have wicked Carpal Tunnel and have to get splints... she even mentioned that it could get bad enough for me to take disabillity leave from work. I doubt that will happen, but who knows. It's driving me crazy already - my hands will go numb suddenly a few times a day - and I'm not even halfway there.


So, yeah. Not sure what to make of all of this. I'll just keep on keepin on and maybe next appointment I'll be better prepared to ask some hard questions.

M.

It's a....

GIRL!

bladder buster

well, it's 9:46am. my ultrasound is at 10:45. i've had a really draining morning so far (i'll fill you in on one of the other blogs later), and now i'm quite nervous. the whole - "i've already had 2 incredibly healthy children, who am i to believe the third will be so healthy?" rant keeps running through my head.

so far, i've thrown back 2 glasses of water, and now i feel rather ill. 2 more to go. of course, i have to pee if i even look at water, so drinking 4 glasses is pure torture. never mind the 45 minute drive to the appointment, and who knows how long i'll have to wait.

i distinctly remember thinking, with lili "I don't even care if it's a boy or girl, just LET ME PEE!".

i hope we can find out today, although part of me is dreading knowing. if it's a boy, i worry i'll be disappointed, for lili. if it's a girl, i'm worried that i'll be disappointed, for cohen. which, of course, if you're the "glass half full" type of person, means it's a win-win situation. haha.

as long as it's not twins.

(don't worry, we already know it's not twins).

anyhoo. onto glass number 3, which, from my view, is distinctly half empty.

i'll post again from work...

17w/5d

u/s is on monday, starting to freak out a little.

ian is working, so i'm going by myself... which kind of sucks but on the other hand, i'm looking forward to the time alone! it doesn't happen that often!

i am not feeling lots of movement these days, and i can't remember how much i was feeling with the other two at u/s time. i'm pretty sure that i was a full 20 weeks before the u/s with cohen and lili... this time around i will be only 18w 3d. i'm almost tempted to reschedule for the week after x-mas so that there is a better chance of finding out the sex. however... ah, whatever, i'll just pay for a private u/s if i have to.

i'm huge now. i wish my body did pregnancy more gracefully. (bad sentance). instead, i look like a giant ball - big round butt and big(ger) round tummy LOL. oh well. i can't even imagine how much bigger i'll get - i knew i'd show earlier for #3 but i had no clue.

otherwise... things are good. i haven't had my glucose test yet (i have to do it tomorrow or i'm out of luck before my next Dr appointment). i really, really hope it's normal because i can't imagine trying to fit in sessions at the GD clinic on top of everything else. fingers crossed!

ok, that's all, nothing much new in baby-land. hopefully we'll have some good news monday. my dr appointment is next Thurs so i'm really hoping that all is normal. i keep reading about all of these pregnant women who have genetic testing done and it comes back "high risk" or whatever... we chose not to have any done as it wouldn't change anything for us prior to the birth but i am nervous.

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow (just not in my office)

16 weeks, 2 days.

on one hand, HUH? where did the last 16 weeks go? on the other hand, HUH? 24 more weeks!?

i feel good these days. perky, even. i know, that's not the word most of you think of when you think of me.

can't WAIT for this darn ultrasound. then i can finally start focusing on names. and clothes, hahah. went shopping at once upon a child yesterday (GOD i love that store), and i had to refrain from buying every cute baby boy AND baby girl outfit i saw. i just want to know, so i can start planning. i'm a planner, doncha know!

ah well, i'm sure the next few weeks will fly by, if only because it's christmas and i am already freaking out because there is so much to do and so little time.

i can't wait to find out what version #2 of baby male/female swaffield will look like. i mean, cohen is clearly what i see when i think baby male swaffield. and lili for baby female. i can't imagine any variation. to me, that is the most exciting part.

ok, my office is FREEZING (no heat yet this fall/winter... in fact, still air conditioning), and i wannt go home, eat dinner and head out to orchestra.

brrrr!!!!!!!!!