A Little Pregnancy Update
I remember when I was pregnant with Ella, thinking, “I cannot believe I haven’t even finished one pregnancy, and I’ll probably have to do this whole thing again at least twice more, and maybe three.”
And yet, here I am almost halfway through a fourth one.
This pregnancy has been my most scary, since at 12 weeks, I was convinced I’d had a miscarriage. I’ve never had one, but I had so much sudden bleeding on a trip home from the library and then continued all evening long, that I was sure there was no way I was still pregnant.
I hadn’t yet been into the doctor’s, so I made an appointment for two days later, and when I went in, and they found a strong little heartbeat, I was totally shocked.
After an ultrasound, they determined that the cause of all the bleeding (which has completely stopped after that first day) was a subchorionic hemorrhage, which I’d never heard of, but appears to be pretty common.
Mine was actually quite large and so they’ve been monitoring it pretty closely, and I’m under strict instructions to take it reasonably easy. So far, it hasn’t made many signs of getting smaller (which, I’ll admit, is giving me more nerves than any pregnancy ever has), but the baby is growing steadily and I haven’t had any more bleeding, so I’m crossing my fingers that it resolves itself and everything turns out fine. But definitely more stressful than the last three, where I was pretty much a textbook-easy pregnancy.
Other than that, this pregnancy has been pretty much like my others. Pretty constant low-grade nausea through the first trimester, although I’ve throw up quite a bit less this time than I have with any other pregnancies (the most memorable this time was during a stop-and-go taxi ride during rush hour traffic from Manhattan to the JFK airport, where the poor driver had to pull over FOUR times so I could throw up on the street), and I have to eat basically non-stop. I’m keeping the cereal aisle of my grocery store in business all by myself.
I also haven’t felt as tired during the first trimester as I did with Ani and Star, both of whom, required that I nap practically every day as soon as I tossed the other children in their cribs for naps. This time, it was right about the start of the second trimester where the exhaustion has been more pronounced, and my energy levels have definitely stayed low the past few few weeks.
This baby started moving a little bit during week 16, but then the day I hit 17 weeks, there was a LOT of movement, with obvious kicks and flips. Ever since Ani was born, I’ve had phantom baby movement when I’m not pregnant, so it’s fun to feel those this time and know it’s actually a baby, not just some weird mental thing.
Now Bart and I should probably stop procrastinating any discussion of names. People keep asking if we’ve picked, but the truth is that we don’t have any picked out (not even contenders!). Even if this baby had been a boy, we don’t have any boy names either.
I had that at 16wks and bled significantly for weeks… I still look at my now 12yr old boy with thankful delight. Those wee babies are so tough!
Me too! I had SCHs with 2 of my pregnancies, it was wildly nerve-racking, but my babies were born healthy and strong. I had never heard of SCH before and was terrified. Praying for peace for you for the rest of this pregnancy.
Me too! I had SCHs with 2 of my pregnancies, it was wildly nerve-racking, but my babies were born healthy and strong. I had never heard of SCH before and was terrified. Praying for peace for you for the rest of this pregnancy.
I love those boots!! They look so much better on than they do in the link you included.
Also, I had a similar situation with bleeding early in my pregnancy- although I had to use fertility treatments so I knew early on I was pregnant and had already heard the heartbeat- it was very scary. Turns out I had placenta previa, which resolved itself. But I know how scary it can feel!! Best of luck to you
I've been reading your blog for ages but I've never commented before. I had the same issue with pregnancies 2 and 3. Those kids are now 5 and 2. It was alarming both times but oftentimes it does resolve. My 2nd pregnancy had a huge one and I got the "sometimes bad things happen to good people this doesn't look good" talk but as I said it all ended well. Hope yours does the same. I know there's not a lot of research out there, but here's two more good stories to add to your list.
I'm glad everything is so far so good for your little girl! I know how awful it can be having any added stress in a pregnancy! Praying all goes well for you guys!
So, speaking of names… How about Iolanthe for her blog name? You know, it's nice and short, easy to spell, and not at all impossible to pronounce. Heehee. In all seriousness, good luck. Picking a name is so tough. I hope all goes well for the remainder of the pregnancy. I've had some friends that were in this same situation, and I know it was really nerve-wracking for them.
Her blog name could be Amy. Youngest little woman.
Congrats on number 4!! I feel like women who grow up with multiple sisters really get it how much fun it is to get to raise sisters. And we all know sisters just get better and better with time. Enjoy!! I feel like I should have taken stock out in crayloa (not diapers) when I had my 4th girl. They are still obsessed with everything artsy.
Thank you for making me feel normal! I've been having phantom baby movements even though there's no way I could be pregnant. I thought it was just me!!
You're so lucky!