Boy or Girl? Pregnancy #6 : Week 12-16 Update

On the phone with my doctor's office I had just gotten the good news.  Baby number 6 has a low risk for Trisomy 21, 18 and 13 generic defects.  Wahoo!  Since baby number 4 had Trisomy 18, we were relieved to hear that things were looking good with this baby.  We also found out if we are having a boy or girl!

Boy or Girl?  Pregnancy 6 Week 12-16 Update

I was 12 weeks, the early screenings looked good.  My levels all looked good.  We had seen the baby via ultrasound at weeks 8 and 10.  And at my 12 week doctor apt, the heartbeat sounded good.

In theory, I should have been relieved.  In theory, all my fears should have gone away.  But they didn't completely.

With hesitation we told our children the news.  They were thrilled!!!  They were so excited to have a baby in our family!  And the joy they showed from hearing the news made us so happy too!  And they were even more excited that we knew the gender.

The early genetic testing we did included the option of finding out the gender.  When the nurse asked me over the phone if I wanted to know what the gender was, I said yes without hesitation!!  (Sorry to my husband who had to hear about it secondhand from me...but I couldn't wait to know!)

The nurse confirmed what my husband and I had thought we were having.

It is a girl!  A little baby girl!  

Our daughter was so excited to get a little sister.  Our son asked if there were by chance two babies in there.  Ha!  Nope, there is only one.

But that didn't stop him from going to school the next day and telling his entire class that he was going to be a big brother.

He is so excited to no longer be the youngest in our family.  Although he doesn't quite realize that he will now be the middle child.  Ha!

Our daughter is elated.  She can not contain her excitement.  She also immediately told friends and neighbor's.  And I soon began receiving texts asking if what my kids told them was true.  Hahaha.  Yes.  Yes it was.  We are expecting.  A little baby girl.

As the joy set in for my husband and my children I have found I am still hesitant to tell people.  I am still cautious.  I still can't bring myself to actually buy anything for a baby yet.

But I know there is time.

We are so excited to be able to add to our family!

Wanna quick belly shot update?  I've been trying to take a photo almost every week, I have definitely missed a few weeks.  But here are the photos from the first trimester...

Yikes.  I can't believe I am posting this online!  Ha!

I don't like to complain, but the nausea set in fast and fierce.  The waking up in the middle of the night started immediately.  And the worry that something could still be wrong hasn't gone away.

I don't think I've been able to get completely excited yet because the lingering fear that something could still go wrong hasn't gone away.  

And of course, I started getting big right away.  At pregnancy number 6 my body knows exactly what to do.

Here are a few more belly shots.  I clearly forgot a few weeks though...oops!

While I felt and still feel sick most of the time, it is manageable.  I have only actually thrown up a handful of times.  My migraines are harder to get to go away with limited medicines but I remind myself that it is ok because I am pregnant and how exciting is that!?  I am tired all the time and take naps daily.  And I am completely and totally unproductive most of the time.  I'm hoping that changes soon! Haha!

At 16 weeks I had another doctor apt and the doctor found the heart beat right away.

And he talked to me about doing another screening for neurotube defects and a few other things.  Because my husband and I are people who like to know, we said yes do the test, and they immediately drew blood for the test.  That was on a Monday, and I was told I should know by the end of the week if any of the tests came back worrisome.

As week 16 drew to an end I waited and waited to see if the doctor called.  No call is a good thing I was told.  They would call me if something was wrong but wouldn't call of everything came back normal.

At the end of the day on Friday, I realized that they hadn't called!  So things must be ok!  Wahoo!

Another round of screenings done with good results.

With another heartbeat check and more screenings done, you would think that I would be feeling less worried.  But I realize that the worry hasn't gone away.  And I'm not sure if it will.  I keep thinking at the next milestone, I will feel better, but I don't.  I think maybe at 20 weeks with the ultrasound I will feel better.  But then I realize that I lost a baby at 28 weeks and I'm not sure I will feel 100% at peace until I have a living baby in my arms.

I realize I still don't have all the answers.  Things are looking good but I know there is a chance something could still go wrong.  I don't mean to sound pessimistic, we are truly grateful to have the opportunity to bring another child into our family!

But at one point the fear hit so hard that it felt nearly suffocating.

And then the thought came to my head very strongly that fear is not of God.  And I realized that fear is only of Satan and I needed to work hard to remove that fear from my life.  It is hard, when the reality of what could go wrong is still so fresh and real in my memory.  But I work at it, every single day.  I work hard to be at least cautiously optimistic and hopeful.

I have worries, and stresses, and am not sure I will feel completely settled until this baby is born.  But I am working hard to find that joy and that happiness that comes along with being pregnant.  I am trying to enjoy the good things and the happy times and I am trying hard not to let fear overshadow that happiness.

I have gotten used to my kids telling everyone that we are going to have a baby.  Even the random person checking our tickets at the zoo entrance.  #TrueStory

And I am growing bigger and bigger by the day.  I keep thinking that no one has probably noticed yet, but I am sure I am only fooling myself.  Hahaha!

There are a few things I don't want to eat, like chocolate (so sad!!) but I had this same aversion when I was pregnant with my other daughter.  Also I don't love pizza.  But Pad Thai and fresh guacamole (not together) and all yummy fresh Mexican food really, sounds amazing to me all the time.  Sadly, we don't have any good Mexican food where I live, but I eat pad thai far more often then I care to admit.

I've been fortunate enough to be able to travel still.  I was able to go visit my sister for a long weekend, and go on a trip with GMC to tour the HGTV Dream House in Florida!  I was able to go to Utah for SNAP and I was able to go on a trip to Florida with my family just two weeks ago.

And all has gone well so far.  It really has.

Until two weeks ago, when something a little worrisome happened...

 

Here are all the posts in this series about our family's journey: