Baby #3 – 24 Weeks
Oh hey, want to hear about my pregnancy?
It’s good! I am ready to officially say it’s good.
In fact, I have absolutely nothing unusual to report. Hurrah for a totally normal, boring baby!
This is the first time in a while I’ve felt able to write much about it, for fear of jinxing things. At my 19 week ultrasound the tech was a little concerned. My placenta was lower than they wanted to see and I had high fluid levels. Apparently that’s a soft marker for a lot of birth or genetic defects, so they wanted to get me in to a level 2 ultrasound soon. Unfortunately “soon” was a full 3 weeks later.
It wouldn’t have been quite such a nerve-wracking three weeks if the doctor hadn’t made a super casual, off-hand remark about how if something WAS tragically wrong we’d want to know sooner rather than later. 3 WEEKS IS NOT SOON. If she had just left out the part about the teeny, tiny chance of a fatal or life threatening problem I could have just complained about my heartburn and sore hips and never-ending morning nausea. Instead I lay in bed every night and thought about…possibilities.
I DID keep myself from Googling though. Mostly since “high fluid levels” turns up way too many results to process, let alone freak out about.
ANYWAY. At my level 2 ultrasound the tech and the special high-risk doctor both declared my baby perfectly fine. My placenta moved up and my fluid levels are only on the high level of normal, not actually high. The baby looks healthy and my screenings came back with very low chances of a genetic issue. I am extremely relieved.
I didn’t want to talk about any of this until I was sure – or as sure as you can possibly be before the baby becomes an outside baby – that things were fine. Plus also, thinking about what MIGHT be wrong reminded me of how many things COULD go wrong and what a crazy delicate thing pregnancy can be. Tomorrow I am 24 weeks, which is viability (technically). So now I am ready to complain about all the trivial stuff.
That might take FOREVER, so let’s start with the big one.
OMG MY BUTT. Not, like, the delicate unspeakable parts. All of it, from my back down to my thighs. The internet says the horrible stabbing pain is sciatica, but I had what I thought was sciatica with previous babies. This is WAY worse. This is like the difference between a paper cut and having a finger chopped off. The other thing the internet says is that the best ways to treat it are “stretching” and “resting” and “maybe some acupuncture”. I have no time for this “resting” thing and I can’t spend my days in child’s pose, so at my next OB appointment I guess I’ll be asking about alternative treatments. I feel extremely lucky I can spend a lot of time on the couch or lying down when it gets too bad, but until the children can do the grocery shopping and errand running themselves there are going to be painful days.
I’m just hoping I don’t get SPD on top of it. That’s the one where you feel like you’ve been kicked in the crotch with a steel-toed boot. Even rolling over in bed is enough to make you cry, so THAT on top of THIS would probably land me on a motorized scooter for the next 16 weeks.
And now, some blurry, generic ultrasound photos I took pictures of with my phone!
Based on no actual info besides those pictures, I’m currently predicting “girl”, since the profile looks just like Caroline. Both kids are on team girl but E is swearing it’s a boy. Oddly, I am not in the least bit tempted to find out anymore. I’m SUPER excited about waiting until the delivery room and being surprised along with everyone else.
Tags: 24 weeks, appointment update, baby #3, pregnancy, pregnancy symptoms, ultrasound
Yay for normal growing babies!!!!!
I know an awesome acupunturist right up the road from you, if you end up going that route. At the very least, an acupuncturist can provide you with the most WONDERFUL 45 minute nap you’ll ever have. It’s the most relaxing thing I’ve ever done!
I’m so glad everything turned out to be okay! I had a scare with Brigs and had to wait for the level II. Awful.
Also? I had sciatica with Landon. I thought my tailbone was going to snap in half. Really. I carried a pillow everywhere with me by the end of my pregnancy. I didn’t care what anyone thought! :)
Hope it gets better.
So glad everything turned out ok! :) Yay for a healthy babe!
Hahaha, I saw the last ultrasound pic and thought, “Wow, that looks like Caroline.” :)
I am team girl because as I scrolled down I thought, “That baby looks exactly like Caroline.” And it looks like I am not the only one!
I’m glad your soft markers and worries were for naught. Maybe ask the doctor about a prenatal chiropractor, I’ve had friends swear by them but you have to make sure they are prenatal specialists or somesuch.
Baby! I see you! I had acupuncture done for sciatica, it helps but isn’t a miracle cure. I hate to say it, but the miracle cure is birthin’ the baby. Although, now that I type this, I think it might have been moxibustion that was for the sciatica. Which is sort of fun if you like burning and herbs and hot metal on your skin. I even googled so you don’t have to! http://www.kotenacupuncture.com.au/acupuncture-treats-sciatica/
Pregnancy also does a number on your brain, the anxiety is killer. Glad the results came back positive! I had major back, booty and pubic bones issues with my second pregnancy – that SPD thing? I used to dread going to bed even though I was exhausted. As for back/sciatic pain, I really recommend a belly band for all upright movement, it really helped me feel like things were being held together better/supported. My left leg felt less like it was going to fall off. Looking forward to the big reveal!
Yay for a healthy baby! I’m impressed that you were able to ignore the siren call of Dr. Google. At Jack’s anatomy ultrasound they told me there was a potential issue with his kidney and it was a soft marker for some genetic conditions. All we could do was wait for weeks and repeat the ultrasound. It was the most nerve wracking four weeks of my life and of course Dr. Google told me the worst possible scenarios. Turns out it’s completely healthy and whatever it was resolved itself in four weeks.
I’m also getting the girl vibe just by looking at the ultrasound picture.
I could never do surprised. Just for my own sanity! I need time to absorb the name and process my idea of the future family and so on. But I’m a control freak so…
I suffered with gnawing something off is less painful sciatica with Elena. Extremely painful. I saw a webster certified chiropractor on recommendation of a friend despite my dr being against this (idea of: chiropractors are just placebos). Saved my life, eliminated my pain. With Ethan it came back but not near as bad a few sessions and pain magically gone. I swear by my chiro and being webster certified they are trained to work specifically with pregnant women. I threatened to make mine move in with me she was so awesome. Prior even laying in bed was painful. Rolling over was the devil. The OBs Rx of better belly support was complete BS. Useless.
Glad things are normal and boring. :)
Hooray for healthy but girl I am PRAYING for you not to get SPD. I had that with the Peanut and thought my hooha was permanently broke… Like 85 pieces broke. Ugh. Have you thought about taking a yoga class? It was the ONLY thing that helped at all… but still, like most people say… birthin the baby and all that. :-) Hugs and kisses to the next adorable ginger!!
xoxox