NuMom2Be

At my very first prenatal appointment, I saw a sign on the door of the bathroom for a new mom study. Requirements were that this had to be your first pregnancy or you have had no more than 2 miscarriages under 20 weeks, and you had to be in your first trimester. So I thought, sure why not? I looked into it, and was chosen to participate.

It is a University of Utah study, called NuMom2Be.

The purpose of the study is to find out why so many first time pregnancies have complications or turn to miscarriage. You have one appointment per trimester, where they run tests, do a pelvic exam, and an ultrasound (3D during 3rd trimester). Then at delivery, they take samples, and wah-la! I'm done.

Did I mention this is all free, and I'm compensated for my time?

The coolest thing about it is that I get 3 extra ultrasounds that I wouldn't normally have. Yesterday was my first appointment, at almost 12 weeks.

 

Baby at Almost 12 Weeks

Baby is certainly starting to look like a baby. We still think it's a boy, and it's looking like he's going to be tall like his Daddy and big sister. Also, baby is growing pretty fast, because my due date has changed 3 times! First it was August 7, then based on the growth of the baby it was August 4. As of yesterday, the due date is August 1.

I have mixed feelings about the due date moving up, because I want the baby to come to us as soon as possible (healthily), but also, I have this weird thing about wanting to not have a baby-baby on our first wedding anniversary. I guess it would be ok, though, if the baby came early enough before our wedding anniversary, that I could go out with my husband and celebrate while not looking like a whale. (not likely)

Sometimes I get sad when I look at my facebook cover photo and think, "I'm never going to be that skinny again." At least, my genes are against me. Boo.

Back to the point of this post, the appointment was cool. It was at the IMC hospital, where I plan to give birth. Which is also the hospital where Jayah was born. It went just about how my 6 week appointment was. They took some blood from me, I did a urine test, pelvic exam, and an ultrasound. I also spent close to an hour doing an interview with the Research nurse. Basic questions about my overall health. In depth questions about my family health history, and even more in depth questions about my eating habits in the months prior to my pregnancy.

The bummer thing is that all of this information is anonymous. I am just a 10 digit number. So I'll never get the results of any of my testing. They also keep samples of everything they take from me for future testing. You know, in case they find any correlations with anyone else.

I was worried that Jaymeson wasn't going to be able to make it to my appointment (because his work sucks), but luckily he was able to get there right on time. We are 3/3 on appointments with Jaymeson. Hopefully we can keep that track record going all the way through pregnancy.

One (cool) thing that I learned through filling out questionnaire after questionnaire, is that my mom had the Rh Factor Issue as well, which resulted in 4 of her miscarriages. Her blood type is O Negative, as well as 3 of my other siblings, which could be the only reason why we survived to full term. Which is also weird because normally you get the blood type from your father, and my dad is not O Negative  Luckily, that was 20+ years ago, and technology and medicine is much more advanced than it used to be. Maybe I will be able to have other babies after all. :) That is, if I feel like I can survive pregnancy/child birth a second time.

Another (not cool) thing that happened at my appointment, is that my records are under a different name. So when they printed my ultrasound picture for me, it said Heather Cheney. Gag. Luckily, the Research nurse was nice enough to black out the name on the photos for me. :) So now I need to go get my Roush License ASAP, so I can get in there and change my name with the hospital. I don't want to see that ever again, especially on my ultrasound pictures! Does the whole name changing process ever end?

Next study appointment is in March, where they will confirm the sex of the baby. We will have our normal appointment a week or so before that one, so it really will just be more of like a confirmation. But still cool!

I want to thank all of you for your comments to my previous post. I love reading everyone's opinions and it has definitely helped me to consider things I probably wouldn't have normally considered. I am always open to opinions of others. Like I said before, I am very uneducated on all things baby-making, so I appreciate all the help I can get! 

A Pregnancy Discussion

I have always thought, of course I'm going to breast feed. And of course I'm going to a hospital to give birth. And of course I'm going to get an epidural. But now that I'm pregnant, I'm starting to wonder if those are really the right decisions for me and my baby.

So, I want to hear from you mommies...

Why did you choose to breastfeed? And specifically, you mommies that chose not to breastfeed, what helped you to make that decision?

What was your method of child birth? Were you at the hospital? Did you do at home birth? Did you choose the bathtub approach? And why? Are there other options?

What are the pros and cons to epidurals? Is it worth it to try (key word) doing it naturally? Are there really any risks to the epidural?

Hopefully this discussion can help me to feel more comfortable, and confident in the decisions I make about this pregnancy. I'm still learning so much, and I feel like I'll never know everything I need to know in time. It's all so overwhelming to think about! And I still have 200 more days!

Side Note: 

Check out this HILARIOUS Week by Week Pregnancy Blog my friend introduced me too. Even if you aren't currently pregnant, if you have ever been pregnant, or someday want to be pregnant, it's pretty funny.

10 Week Baby

I had my 10 week appointment today. Jaymeson and Miss Jayah came with me. I was so excited for her to actually get to see Baby. She talks to him (we think it's a him) sometimes, and always kisses my belly goodnight, but I wanted her to really get to see him.

So off we went, before school, to see the wonderful Dr. Marilee Simons, whom I love. I did the standard tests with the nurse, (side note: They always ask if I can do a urine sample, and I always say "I'll try." And every time, without fail, I can. Pregnancy...) and then Dr. Simons came in. We talked about the pain in my left side, which is now completely gone. But before it disappeared, it got worse and weird. My left side was swollen, my left rib was sticking out, and it felt like there was something there every time I would bend that way. But it's all gone now, and it's all good.

All other pregnancy symptoms have pretty much disappeared, or I've just really got this whole pregnancy thing down. I don't have weird cravings, or any cravings for that matter. I hardly have morning sickness. I don't really have to pee a lot. My boobs aren't sore. I have only thrown up a few times. I don't have swelling. I don't have cramping. I don't have back pain.

My only pregnancy symptom is meanness. I am a mean pregnant person.

At my last appointment, they took 7 or 8 viles of blood from me. I got a recorded messages stating everything was all good, (you know, no STDs or anything) but she wanted to run over all the tests with me anyways. I like that about her,  she explains everything. One interesting thing I found out is that I am Blood Type: O Negative. O Negative is the rarest blood type. I can donate to almost anyone, but only O Negative can donate to me. Also one crazy thing about O Negative, is that if the babies blood is a Positive Blood Type, my blood could potentially attack the baby... which would obviously cause lots of problems.

She gave me some reading to understand the situation more. It's the Rh Factor. Most people have the Rh Factor, which means they are Rh Positive. I am one who is Rh Negative. Basically that means that if my blood comes in contact with someone's blood who is Rh Positive, I become sensitized and I will start to produce antibodies that fight the Rh Factor as if it were harmful. Once the antibodies are formed, they don't go away. Good news is, I don't currently have any antibodies

So during pregnancy, the mother and the fetus do not share blood systems, but sometimes a small amount of blood from the fetus can cross into the placenta into the mother's system. If that happens in my case, I become sensitized and create antibodies to attach and break down the baby's blood cells. That causes anemia, which can potentially cause severe illness, brain damage, or even death to the baby.

For a first time pregnancy with an Rh Positive fetus, the baby is usually born before my body would develop the antibodies, so there will most likely not be any problems unless there is some sort of traumatic injury before delivery. However, in a second pregnancy with an Rh Positive fetus, the antibodies are already developed and will most likely cause anemia. 

Lots of information to take in. For now, I have to get a shot on my butt, every appointment starting at 28 weeks up until delivery, to monitor the development of antibodies. Then if I am pregnant again, I will have to have shots every other week or so, and probably have a more high risk pregnancy. Yay....

After we talked about all of that, Dr. Simons wheeled in her little ultrasound machine, and we got to see Baby. At first I was really nervous, because he was not moving at all and I couldn't hear a heart beat. Then I laughed and the baby sort of bounced, and then started moving all over the place. We saw his little hands and feet moving around. We saw him rubbing his face and waving his arms. We even saw him roll over. It was the cutest thing! Jayah was so excited. She kept asking if the baby could see her, and kept talking and waving to him. She is so excited to have a little sibling on its way!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is Baby rolled over.

Here is Baby facing forward.

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My next appointment is in 4 weeks, and then the appointment after that we get to find out if our "he" is really a "he". I can't wait to find out and to start creating the nursery and buying baby stuff!