Hellobee Boards

@bushelandapeck: I love boyish names as a girl's name. We are doing Quinn but our next girl if we have one is going to be Cameron. I've known a Wesley and a Tyler (sisters) and I always thought their names were cool! I've also known plenty of Ryans and even a Devon.

@Mrs.Panda: That's part of what I love about Emerson - i love the nickname.

Does anyone feel like their hips are falling apart already?? And why do my boobies still hurt so bad? I've never had my boobies hurt this bad before and it has to be too early for my hips to feel like this. I know I know, quit whining I'm loving all of these nursery ideas! I can't bring myself to start planning anything until we are 100% sure it's a girl. But I have no idea what color I would paint the room either way, I am sooooo indecisive.

@Mrs.Panda: gah! I have never had it start this early before, I was walking through the store today and it felt like they weren't really attached to anything anymore! Does the brace really help and what kind of brace is it? This is going to be a long 5 months ahead if this is how its going to be lol!

@Mrs.Panda: very cute bedding. I love the ruffles on the crib skirt!!

@bushelandapeck: it seems we have very similar taste in girl names! Isn't Aubrey on your list, too? I feel like I remember reading that at one point. Oh, and I'm loving your nursery ideas. The pale yellow is very pretty, and I think it will look great with pops of gray and teal. I love that pillow that someone posted as inspiration for you!

@wonderstruck: oh, what a cutie!! Gotta love the first bday cake pics! And I love that car, too! Been thinking of getting one for my little man.

@mrskoloa: impressive!! I'm also loving the owls!

@cyndistar3: OMG YES with the hips. I feel like such an old lady...my hips are always sore even when I'm not pregnant, so it's definitely been worse. I go to the chiropractor, which helps a lot. I usually just go once a month, but I've needed to go more frequently this past month as I'm beginning to show that I'm pregnant. And YES to the sore boobs, too!! Mine have been so incredibly sore and sensitive this entire pregnancy. And I'm already up a full bra size and (if we're being honest here) I think it's time to go up another size bc I was busting out of mine today! Lol!

I've been feeling some movement a little over a week now. I noticed it clearly the day before Mother's Day. It's not super strong, but there's little pops here and there. At my last u/s, the tech said the location of the placenta is likely to block me from feeling it. Speaking of ultrasounds, our follow-up Level 2 is tomorrow afternoon. I'm so excited and anxious at the same time. Not only am I worried about the cyst, but I'm also nervous the tech will accidentally reveal the gender of our baby, as well! Overall, we've been doing a good job staying calm. Most of the research that I've found online states that there shouldn't be anything to worry about, so I'm just trying to think of this as an extra chance to see out little one before he/she is born. I think the most nerve-wracking thing is that we need to go to the hospital, not our typical u/s lab this time. Going to the "hospital" seems so much more serious.

In other news, the home day care we were looking into is now full (but we're still going to visit in the morn). We're also going to check out the day care center in the morning, as well. Busy day for us!! I'll be in touch tomorrow night, but please send positive thoughts our way.

@bunnylovesbear: good luck for your u/s, don't worry if you don't want to know then they will probably just call baby "baby" eg baby has lovely long legs etc. our tech said before we started "if I say he, please don't take it that it is a boy, I have a little boy so when not looking at the gender I assume all babies are boys" haha.

@bunnylovesbear: keeping you in my thoughts for sure! Hoping that all goes very well for you and the baby!

First of all, our day care visits went well today. No separation anxiety whatsoever. J loved seeing the kids and playing with the new (to him) toys. In fact, he CRIED when it was time to leave! As expected, I really want my toddler to attend the center (as opposed to the home care). We are considering looking into getting a nanny for the baby and sending J to preschool to help keep costs down. Luckily, there's plenty of time to figure that out.

After spending our morning visiting day cares, we spent our afternoon at the hospital. They did a full ultrasound checking everything out since it was my first at the hospital instead of my typical u/s lab. Baby was active, heart rate of 138bpm, and the tech told me when to look away so I wouldn't accidentally figure out if it was a boy or girl. It was great to see the little bean up on the screen, but I was anxious the whole time.

Afterwards, the doctor came in to discuss the results with us. I'd have to say that the results were not good or bad - the choroid plexus cyst was still present and they mentioned something about the bowels, as well. The doctor did not seem worried/anxious/concerned at all, which helped us remain calm, but she explained our options. We could opt for an amnio, which I said absolutely not. The risks are not worth it to me...and besides, the thought of it scares the crap out of me. However, there is a relatively new test that she offered called MaterniT21. It's a simple, non-invasive blood test...so off to the lab we went. They took all sorts of blood samples, some to rule out any chance of infection causing the bladder thing and some for the MaterniT21 test. They also took a urine sample. Results should be in within 1-2 weeks, so in the meantime, I was just advised to do my best to remain calm and not worry - that the doctor only recommended the test to offer us "piece of mind." siiigh. So it's another waiting game - so please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

They also did an internal u/s to check out my cervix since I had a LEEP done about 8 yrs ago due to some abnormal cells they found during a routine pap. Turns out my cervix is only 2.3cm, which is <5th percentile. They told me to take it easy, not to carry anything heavy, no intercourse, and scheduled another u/s next Tuesday to monitor my cervix. (and another on July 22nd in the 28th week). Kinda crazy to have all this going on...my previous two pregnancies were virtually incident-free, so this is a whole new experience for me. It definitely helps to be able to talk about it on here, as I really don't want to get into much detail with friends/family. I had to tell my Mom since she was watching my son so we could go to this appointment, but otherwise, I'm going to attempt to keep it quiet. I feel like it will be easier to stay calm if fewer people know. So yeah, that's my story. Thanks for listening.

@bunnylovesbear: thanks so much for the update! I hope the tests bring you peace, although I know the waiting stinks! Take it easy mama and take care of yourself. Lots of hugs and prayers going your way

@bunnylovesbear: thanks for updating, you have been through the emotional wars you poor soul. Thinking of you, I'm sure everything will be fine

@Mrs.Panda: ugh I would be so annoyed but I LOVE the quilt and it's still visible with the pink embroidery

@bushelandapeck: I didn't realize you had to get the MaterniT21 test done with #1. I don't remember that from our October boards, but I do find it reassuring that you had some soft markers found on the u/s and things turned out to be fine. Do you mind me asking what the markers were?

And yes, I do remember them monitoring things due to my LEEP, but I don't remember it being this early on. My guess is during my anatomy scan, the tech must've made note of my cervix and so my doctor wanted to check in on it again. Who knows. At the end of my pregnancy with Johnny, I was put on "light bed rest." Basically, just taking it easy, no exercising, going for walks, etc.

@cmbknyc: @Ms.Pumpkin: @Mrs tartan: @Mrs.Panda: Thanks for the positive thoughts and support. I'm definitely feeling the stress - surprisingly moreso about the cervix thing, though. I've definitely already noticed some pressure and my belly feeling heavy, so now I'm thinking this is the reason for it. I am hoping to return to work in September, so I can extend my maternity leave through Feb vaca at school, so I'm a bit concerned that won't be a possibility anymore. But I'm jumping to conclusions, and I know I just need to relax and see how it goes. Luckily, I have a great paraprofessional that works in my classroom, so I have him bringing my kids up and down the 3 flights of stairs while I take the elevator.

@Mrs.Panda: That's annoying that they told you that they could change the stitching, but then it arrived pink instead of white. Regardless, I think it looks great anyways!

@bushelandapeck: yeah, that's our plan, too. Regardless of the results, I cannot imagine electing to terminate the pregnancy....unless my own health was in danger. However, with that said, I totally understand why someone would. I guess we'll have to wait and see what we get for results. I'm hoping the bliss test comes back clear, and we won't have to consider an amnio. That scares the crap out of me.

I'm 20 weeks today, and just had my scan this morning. Everything looked good and we found out we're having a boy! We're really pleased and it was so fun to get to see the baby again. Next time won't be until he is born

@ottilie: congratulations on your little boy!!
@Mrs tartan: last time I weighed myself I was up 6-7lbs at 20w. It's still more than with DS but I am fine with it. Hoping it's not much more than that for my appointment next week though. @mrskoloa: that came out beautiful! I'm really starting to plan our nursery and can't wait to start buying things
@bunnylovesbear: great picture!! We didn't get a ton of clear pics of this baby either but I think it looked similar to DS too.

Also, is anyone else already having Braxton Hicks contractions? I thought I was crazy but they are definitely happening a few times per day already. I've heard it can happen sooner if it isn't your first pregnancy but it still seems early...

@bunnylovesbear: glad to hear you're having them too! I really think it was closer to 26-28 weeks last time. And thank you for liking the crib set I think I'll probably end up buying it soon since it takes a while to have them made. I bought DS set on Etsy too and I think it was 6-8 weeks before it shipped.

Soooo relieved to report that all is well with our little bean!! We went in for our follow-up u/s to check my cervix (still shortened), and they told me that my blood test results came in that morning. My stomach dropped, and then they said all looks good!! MaterniT21 results came back good, and so did whatever blood tests they ran to check for infections (bc of the hyperechoic bowel). So they are thinking the bowel doesn't mean anything, but they'll check on it again at 28 weeks to be sure.

Unfortunately, since I still have a shortened cervix, I'm on light duty and "pelvic rest" (aka no sex...lol...poor hubby). Luckily, it only went from 2.3cm to 2.2cm, so there wasn't much change over the last week and they don't seem too concerned just yet. They have me coming back in two weeks to check on it again.

p.s. I think I totally deserved a TEAM GREEN medal or something. The MaterniT21 test gives the sex of the baby, and we still stayed strong and told them we didn't want to hear those results.