thirteen

I am happy to report that I am now 13 weeks and 1 day pregnant. :)

Yes, it looks as though we all survived the first trimester intact, praise be to God! In fact, I ended up with a sinus infection last week and went in to my ob-gyn last Wednesday, when I was exactly 12 weeks, and while I was there having her listen to my lungs and write me a script for an antibiotic, I asked if I was far enough along to hear the heartbeat yet. The answer was yes. Which was great, because Super Boy happened to be with me, as I had just picked him up from school when the doctor's office called to say they could get me in to listen to my lungs.

So Dr. F got her little doppler thing-a-majig, put some jelly on my belly, and found Baby G2's heartbeat immediately. Hearing those 164 beats per minute was music to my ears, and resulted in my breathing just a little bit easier knowing that baby was still alive and well in my belly.

And watching Super Boy's face as Dr. F found the heartbeat was an extraordinary thing. :) His eyes got big and sparkly, a huge grin spread across his face, and he raised his eyebrows, asking, "Mom... is THAT the baby or you?" He was very excited to hear the heartbeat.

For about 30 seconds. :)

And then he was more curious about the jelly on my belly, and whether it was hot or cold, and if the doctor was going to wipe it off or leave it, etc.

Boys. :)

Anyhoo, last Wednesday was a beautiful day getting to hear the baby's heartbeat and have a little reassurance that things were okay. And now tomorrow Super Man and I will go in for the nuchal translucency ultrasound and Quad Screen blood tests. I'm a little nervous - after all, I'm not the spring chicken I was when I had Super Boy - but I have to hope that God will be merciful and spare this baby any genetic problems after all we've been through to conceive him or her. Dr. F will be meeting with us after the ultrasound so I'll know those results immediately, but we'll have to wait for the blood test results. Please keep us in your prayers that all turns out well.

Being at this point in the pregnancy is a lot of fun. My regular jeans/pants/skirts are almost too tight now but some of my under-belly maternity stuff is now fitting better, so my wardrobe shift is underway. And - holla! - my evening sickness has tapered off dramatically, so now I pretty much only feel sick if I wait too long to eat dinner. I can't tell you how glad I am to feel mostly nausea-free now! I'm sleeping better (but for my cough that won't go away), I'm not peeing every 6 seconds (although I expect that to resume as the baby continues to grow and tap dance on my bladder), and I am not nearly as exhausted during the day as I was a few weeks ago, so I'm being a bit more productive. I remember LOVING the second trimester with Super Boy, and I hope I will be able to revel in this second trimester, too.

We feel very blessed to be where we are right now, anticipating the arrival of our last child together, and we are so thankful that our prayers have been answered, at long last.

Our thoughts & prayers, however, also remain with those who are still struggling to achieve and/or sustain the pregnancies they so deeply desire. Keep hope. Keep faith. Miracles happen.

Yours,
SW