17 weeks~ baby i2

DATE:  May 9, 2013

How far along:  17 weeks

Total Weight Gained:  I had a dr. appointment yesterday and I have officially gained 0 pounds this pregnancy and lost 8 total.  {not to worry, I've just eaten better and had lots of water}

How big is baby?  "your baby's the size of an onion!"

"Baby continues to beef up. Now she's about 5.1 inches long and weighs about 5.9 ounces. "

  **taken from The Bump

 

How baby is growing:

• Her rubbery cartilage is now turning to bone.
• And she's growing some meat on those bones -- putting on some fat.
• She's growing a stronger, thicker umbilical cord, too.
• She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

**taken from The Bump and Babycenter

Maternity Clothes:  some maternity shirts for sure. Tshirts and comfy pants are my general wardrobe. Can't wait for warmer weather and skirts and dresses. The weather has started warming up thankfully!

Sleep: These last few weeks have been ok other than I'm exhausted all the time. I have been sleeping well, for the most part.

Best Pregnancy Moment of the Week: hearing the baby's heartbeat again at the doctor and then being able to find it easily at home with my Doppler!

Movement: I don't really feel movement yet. :(  My placenta is anterior and as they said and showed me during the CVS, it's also really thick, so even though I can hear her flipping and moving when listening for her heartbeat, I can't feel any of it.

Food Cravings:  icees, cereal, and German Chocolate cake.

Food Aversions: none really lately

Gender:  our second precious baby girl

Symptoms:  heartburn, irritability, exhaustion, sore boobs.

What I miss: not feeling exhausted all the time

What I'm looking forward to: Our anatomy scan on May 28

CVS & Gender

As I sat yesterday and thought about how I've been documenting this pregnancy, I felt badly.  Classic sign of the baby of the family getting the shaft already??  yikes!

On April 2, we had our CVS {chorionic villus sampling} testing.  We also did this testing with Lily back in 2010, so we had a clear understanding of what to expect.

A few days before I had called the hospital to find out who the doctor was that would be performing the procedure, hoping it was the same one as before.  No such luck.  I researched the doctor they told me would be doing it, considered rescheduling when the original one was available, and prayed about it.  Ultimately I decided that I didn't know the first doctor and trusted in him. This doctor is the head of the department and I would trust that too.

At first there was a little counseling about numbers with the genetic counselor before going in for an ultrasound to determine which way the procedure could be done.  The choices are either transvaginally or abdominally like an amnio.  I had no idea the needle through the belly was an option ack!!!!  It was all determined on the location of the placenta.

The ultrasound tech was awesome and made me feel comfortable by telling me that she'd want this doctor to be doing this out of all of them. 

Through the ultrasound, I learned that I have an anterior placenta. All up front.  Also, that it's really thick.  That bodes well for this procedure, but not for feeling the baby move.

With the placenta location where it was, they were able to do the procedure transvaginally.  I was relieved since that's what I was familiar with and knew what to expect with it.   The doctor showed me on the ultrasound screen where the needle would go exactly and what I would feel, what sounds I might hear.  His voice was kind, gentle, and comforting.  He told me what to expect and said although he knew I'd had this procedure before, he would explain it as if I hadn't. I appreciated that a lot.

I shared with him that my first experience the dr. hadn't gotten enough of a sample and had to come back to get more. He said, "I hope to beat Dr. Emery and get it the first try."  haha    He left to look at the sample under a microscope and came back in shortly and said, "Well, Stephanie, you're two for two. We have to get more."

The ultrasound tech checked the baby's heartbeat before the procedure and it was at 167.  Immediately after the first attempt it was 181, but after the second it was back to 164. 

I measured 12 weeks, 2 days, but was actually 11 weeks,5 days, so I'm curious to see if she measures a few days ahead the rest of the pregnancy.

Procedure complete.  No bleeding. Just told to take it easy for 24 hours and not to lift anything other than Lily.   Another fantastic experience.

They said I'd get initial results within 48 hours.  I said, "Well, last time I got them in 24, so I'm hoping for that this time too!"

Sure enough the next day, a little before 3pm, the phone rang.  {thankfully}

The genetics counselor said, "I have good news."  and that was enough for me!  The relief that flooded my body was indescribable.  I honestly didn't realize I was as worried as I truly was.

She said the baby had none of the trisomies and within the next week, we'd have the full results for all the chromosomes.  She asked if we wanted to know the gender and I said we did and learned we are having a girl!!

George was just as relieved as I was that everything was good!  That was the important part for us.  Learning the gender was just the icing.

About a week later, the genetics counselor called again and shared that everything is good! Only 2 sets of each chromosome!  Last time with Lily, we had "placental mosaicism," so learning we didn't even have this time was phenomenal!!

Yay for our new baby girl!!

Score at Just Between Friends!

My mission with this new baby has been to find a sit and stand stroller.  Knowing that I'd need containment for my Lily, who loves to run any chance she gets.  Remember Halloween? Ummm, yeah.  Containment necessary.

I'm not one who has to have brand new everything.  This baby will have her own new stuff, but the big stuff? Not necessary.  So, I've been scouring Craigslist and consignment sales to find one in good shape at the price I want to pay.

Remember when I told you about the Just Between Friends consignment sale in Pittsburgh this coming weekend?  Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to be invited to a luncheon and then had the ability to shop early at the presale.

At the lunch, I met Kelly, the guru who owns and runs the JBF sale, and some of the great local ladies of Macaroni Kid whom I've "known" online for awhile, but had never met in person.  It was wonderful to put faces to names! By the way, if you're not familiar with Macaroni Kid in your area...find them! It's a wonderful free resource for all things family and mamas.

After lunch, we were off to explore the enormous sale! I mean, enormous! There were so many items--toys, baby swings, strollers, clothes 0-3months up to size 12, shoes, maternity clothes, outside toys, sport equipment, shoes, toddler tables, toy boxes, books, puzzles etc etc etc.  If you need it or think you need it for a baby or kid, they've got it!

I headed to the strollers first.  After all, this sit and stand stroller is my mission for this new baby!

Rows and rows of strollers. 

I saw three sit and stands.  All three were one brand in particular. One was more the double stroller type with the two actual seats and not what I was looking for.  So, then I was down to two.  Exactly the same except for color.  Then I noticed one did not have the infant seat attachement which is super important to me.  I headed over to the infant seat section and found a brand like the one I have to make sure it would fit on the one sit and stand that did have the attachment. Score!  I looked over the stroller, made sure the buckles all worked, noticed a tray in the basket underneath which was the snack tray after the infant seat is no longer being used.  Okie dokie, this is exactly what I was looking for!  Seriously, I scored this gem for thirty dollars!!

I strolled around the entire place just looking and thinking about what I might need for our new baby and knew I would be looking for summer dresses for Lily. 

The clothing racks were jammed full!! I've typically found that the older Lily has gotten the harder it's been to find clothes for her at consignment.  Kids obviously are harder on clothes as they get older, so there's less selection.  This was not the case this year at this sale! The clothes were in great shape with no holes and/or stains! I felt like the inspection of items before allowing into the sale was a legitimate action. One that is an important selling point for me! 

I was looking for specifics this time...sun dresses and 4th of July outfits. I found exactly what I was looking for and Lily will be set for the month of July, not just the 4th. :)

The time is also coming after our new baby girl arrives and begins to outgrow her baby clothes and items, that I will be consigning and selling since this is our last baby.  Just Between Friends is the sale for me!  I'm already looking forward to the Fall sale!

Be sure to head out there this weekend! 

Thank you, Kelly, for a great sale and a great time!!

Friday, May 3rd 9am-7pm: Sale Opens to the Public!
$3 admission fee all day
Join our mailing list to get your FREE ADMISSION pass!

Saturday, May 4th 8am-4pm: Public Sale & NEW Merchandise!
Admission is FREE!

Sunday, May 5th 8am-2pm: 50% OFF Public Sale!
MANY items 50% and admission is FREE!  

Disclosure: I was provided a presale pass for my honest review. All opinions are 100% my own.