The Most Pregnant I've Ever Been

25 weeks, say what?!?! That's right...we made it another week with Baby M snuggled up inside my uterus. I am happy, and relieved, to be able to say this is the most pregnant I've ever been! It makes me feel like we're finally getting this pregnancy thing down and doing all the right things to ensure our first live birth.

Today we had our level II ultrasound with the high risk OB.  We got some stinkin' cute pictures and a clean bill of health for Baby M! This little one is now 1 pound 11 ounces, with a heart rate of 138, and measured 25 weeks 1 day today.  We have a wiggle worm for sure.....there was constant leg kicking, arm moving, hand waving, and fist punching during the ultrasound.  It was the cutest thing ever:) And the best part was when the baby would move and I could see and feel it at the same time! Baby M is also very stubborn-he or she would not move away from the placenta and off the cord so we could get a good look at the cord insertion which was the whole reason we were sent for the high risk ultrasound to begin with.  The baby is literally head down in birthing position already. 

From what we could see, the placenta has moved away from the cervix completely.  My cervix is still long and closed.  And as far as the cord insertion-I'm just as confused as ever.  We've been told by our regular OB that it's a marginal cord insertion. But today the high risk OB said it looked more like a velamentous cord insertion.  Velamentous is the more serious and concerning of the two.  She's basing this assumption off of where the cord is actually inserted into the placenta, but also said the umbilical arteries don't look like they split into the placenta like a normal velamentous insertion.  However, that could be because we could not see it that well based on where the baby was positioned. 

So what do we do from here?  The high risk OB said she will talk with my regular OB about a monitoring plan.  She would like to do one more ultrasound in about a month to look at the cord insertion again to see if we can make a better determination of what type it is.  I know my regular OB wants ultrasounds every 3 weeks until we reach 32 weeks the way it is....so we will probably have two more ultrasounds in the next 6 weeks.  And then once we hit 32 weeks I will be getting weekly non-stress tests and ultrasounds until we deliver! The high risk OB is referring us for the fetal echocardiogram as standard IVF baby protocol even though Baby M's heart looks great. 

With today's somewhat bad news I could let anxiety creep back in but I'm not gonna let it.  Baby M is growing normally and is as active as can be.  I'm healthy and the happiest I've been in a long time.  And God didn't bring us this far in our journey to leave us.  His protection surrounds all of us.  He has blessed us with a wonderful team of medical professionals that will deliver this miracle baby and place this baby in our arms for the first time.  In 15 weeks or less we will all be rejoicing and celebrating the arrival of Baby M.....I truly believe this now. 

Next week is my glucose test (it got pushed back a week) and in two weeks is my baby shower! I'm looking forward to celebrating the third trimester and revealing Baby M's gender at the shower:)  By the way-no, we don't know if its a boy or girl yet but my husband and I will find out very soon! The rest of you will have a wait until May 17th though...sorry! I am happy to say our first home that we've rented out the past 2 years is officially sold and we will now be hiring a contractor to come in and help get our current home "baby ready".  We've been working on our upstairs remodel since August 2012 and have made small strides towards its completion since my husband has done almost everything by himself (I helped with the demo and my dad helped with the drywall).  Our bedroom and Baby M's room will be upstairs along with a third bedroom that's being converted into a bathroom.  I. Just. Want. It. Done.  I'm wanting to get into nesting mode and can't do that yet and it's about to drive me crazy! We've already gotten a few baby items (the rock-and-play, a rocker/glider, a second car seat base, the swing/bouncer combo, the pak-n-play my sister gave us, and lots of stuff from when I was pregnant with Riley-clothes mostly) that I so badly want to find a place for.  Hopefully by the end of May the nesting process can begin!

Please keep us in your prayers as we navigate our way through the next 15 weeks.  And wish my husband a Happy 31st Birthday coming up this Sunday!