Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Crossing the Halfway Milestone

I have completed 21 weeks! It's hard to believe that I have crossed the halfway mark. Words cannot describe my gratitude to God. When I was 7 weeks pregnant and hooked onto IV antibiotics, 20 weeks seemed so far away. I didn't know if I would make it to that milestone but God has been so merciful. Of course, the days seemed to crawl and I didn't feel pregnant at all. My only relief was the weekly appointments which showed a growing baby. When we saw our baby for the first time on ultrasound at 5w2d, my EDD of June 17th seemed years away. I still remember how I carefully hid all the magazines and booklets I got for my first OB appt. I didn't want to bother looking at nursery stuff, baby essentials and so on. I couldn't risk another heartache and so I kept my heart guarded at all times.

As 2014 began, things became a little better. I had a small bump even though it looked more like a big belly. My doctor assured me that things were looking good and  as she gave me the date for the big ultrasound, I realized that I wasn't dreaming. There was a little one in my womb even though I couldn't feel movements yet. A few days before the ultrasound, I began wondering for the first time if we had enough room for baby in our master bedroom. I began visializing how our room would look like with a crib. I made a note of measurements for the first time. I also began having an intuition about the baby's gender but it turned out to be wrong!

We had the Anomaly Scan when I completed 19 weeks. It felt surreal to see the little one moving around after nearly 6 weeks. We wanted to keep the gender a surprise for our family and my Mom was there in the ultrasound room. The tech asked us to turn away as she looked at the gender. Baby wasn't cooperating much and the tech poked and prodded my tummy to the point where it hurt. After half an hour, she told us to come back for another ultrasound the following week as she needed to get one more measurement. As we left, she handed us the envelope with the gender. I will never forget our excitement as we later found out the baby's gender. We had names for our baby decided the very first month. I was so emotional when my husband began calling our sweet little one by name. I was overwhelmed and so thankful at the same time. My heart was bursting with so much love for our little one. My fears seemed so real now that we had made it so far. All the "What Ifs?" ran through my head but DH reminded me to pray without ceasing and to be joyful. How can I thank my dear Lord and our Blessed Mother for this great gift?

We had another ultrasound at 20 weeks and this time I drank some juice. Baby was active and the tech was happy. We met our wonderful NaPro doctor after the ultrasound. I am transferring my OB Care to another group near home. We will definitely miss our NaPro OB who is so caring & compassionate. I have the first appt with my new OB next monday and I will be 22 weeks. Hoping that everything will go smoothly at the appt.  JBTC gave me her home doppler and we have been able to hear our baby's heartbeat a few times. A bit difficult to find the heartbeat at times but it has definitely helped a lot with my anxiety. By the way, I have an anterior placenta which means it will be a while before I feel the kicks. I have gained nearly 20 lbs in 20 weeks. I don't feel pregnant at all which is a bit strange. I don't feel fatigued or anything of that sort. My only symptom is that I am growing in size. :) I am thankful that I feel well specially after only that happened during the first trimester. God is so gracious! I am praying for a continued safe and healthy pregnancy if it's His will. Just four more months to go.. Wow!!!