After my last post I kind of left my blog hanging, due in part to the busy holiday season we had and in part to unwinding from classes (which I am happy to report went really well, 96% on both my final and skills exam!) Half way done to becoming an LPN!
....And we are expecting our second child in May 2012, the 16th to be exact which is right after finals! Ryan and I were planning on having another during the summer of 2012 or 2013 but didn't expect it to happen so fast (good fertility I guess!) We found out September 10, 2011 at our home after I had spent the last week making more frequent than usual trips to the restroom. I took two digital tests, the first of which didn't develop, so I took another one the next day. I was so excited and Ryan was home so there wasn't any special way I told him this time (and I think he already had a suspicion.) Trayton didn't quite understand what was going on at 17 months old - I think he thought I ate a baby from the strange look he gave me!
We had our first appointment with our OB on September 14, 2011, the same doctor I had for Trayton. This appointment about gave me a heart attack because after giving us an estimated due date, Dr. Lo told us he was 60% sure we were having twins! TWINS...taking care of one newborn is difficult enough, how am I supposed to take care of two at the same time? No sleep, that was my conclusion. The embryo had implanted very close to the cervix and split (identical twins); one was positioned behind the other but he could see the second amniotic sack he thought. We were told to come back in two weeks for a check-up. TWO WEEKS? Those were the longest two weeks of my life and because we were uncertain as to what exactly was going on, we decided to wait to announce our good news! Two weeks crept by and we had our second appointment. We found out we had one healthy embryo developing and one that was regressing (being absorbed). Our OB speculated that there was something wrong with this one and it had stopped developing. I was also having some bleeding due to the position of the placenta which he termed as partial previa because the placenta partially covered the cervix. This continued for a few weeks, so we had another appointment to check on the embryo that survived and how the position of the placenta was progressing (as the uterus grows upward, the placenta should grow with it, almost like when a balloon is inflated, and the placenta should move away from the cervix. This is exactly what was happening at its own slow rate, so we decided to wait until Thanksgiving at 15 weeks and after the first trimester to announce our news. I had mixed emotions as I was sad for the embryo that did not develop but happy and blessed to have one healthy embryo still going strong. We let Trayton be the center of attention and announce our big news with special "Big Brother" t-shirt from The Pecking Order by Zoey's Attic. He was quite sleepy that day and got carried around by daddy; uncle John and grandpa Mike were the first two to read the shirt and Ryan's family was very excited for the news as this was the fourth grandchild they were expecting, right after Pat & Whitney's second baby due in March of 2012! My parents were greeted with the same shirt and were also very excited, however I had a suspicion that they already suspected something was up as "sick" as I had been the past few weeks!
Morning sickness and fatigue kicked in around 9 weeks and ran me through the ringer until somewhere around week 17. With Trayton I was fatigued but never experienced the all day sickness that I have with this little one. There were numerous occasions that I experienced nausea and vomiting in the morning, and in the evening. I used to have a pretty mild gag reflex when it came to taking vitamins, medications, rushing my teeth etc. This all went out the window with this pregnancy until around week 17; I had to start taking my vitamins one. at. a. time. with several swallows of water in between. I also had to be careful when brushing my teeth as if the tooth brush got too far back, I would get sick. On three different occasions I coughed too hard and vomited - it was ridiculous! I also had to take a few afternoon naps during that time because I didn't feel as though I could get through the day with the sickness without resting for a while (and I felt bad because I couldn't play or give Trayton the attention he needed - Ryan was a big help taking him out with him when I needed it during that time.) I tried Earth Mama Angel Baby's Morning Sickness tea, plain ginger tea, ginger drops and nothing worked. Less Drowsy Dramamine still made me tired to the point that I almost fell asleep in class one day, so I finally tried the accu-pressure Sea Bands and these worked the best for controlling the symptoms. The sickness eventually got to the point where it only bothered me in the evening and then disappeared altogether. I frequently told Ryan that had I been this sick with Trayton, he would have been an only child!
Between school, Trayton & Ryan and being sick I was not able to start updating about this pregnancy as early as I would have liked to; with Trayton I took belly pictures from 9 weeks on and updated every week about his development. I plan to do a post about what has happened with this baby's development thus far, as well as some pictures I have to date and hopefully be more diligent from here on out so this one has a keepsake book too!
Wishing you a pot o' gold, and all the joy your heart can hold. Thanks for reading!
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