20 Week Sonogram

The foot measured about an inch.  So tiny, but so defined.

 

 

Today the whole family got to take a look at Kershaw Baby #3!  The baby was very active and had a heartbeat of 138 bpm.  This is quite a bit slower than both Alex and Amelia, but it's healthy and strong nonetheless!!  All body parts are present and growing on schedule.  The baby weighs about 10 oz at this point.  It's soooo amazing to think that this little baby doesn't even way as much as a soda can (that's how Daddy explained it to the kids), but has all the body parts it will ever have.  What a little miracle!!

 

It took a while for Alex to figure out the sonogram pictures, but as she scanned out and showed us the whole body it was neat to see him comprehend what he was looking at.  Right before we were done with the sonogram, I asked the sonographer to zoom out one more time so we could say goodbye to baby.  The little one put on quite a show and was really kicking it's legs in and out.  That's when Amelia finally grabbed the concept. I'm so glad we got to share this with the kids!!

 

Momma gained a few more pounds for a total of 10 lbs at this point.  This is a bit more than I was with the other kids, but everything grows faster with each baby.  I mean check out how big my belly is already!!!!

 

Facebook Official

Tonight we took a few pictures of the kids in their new Big Big Brother and Big Sister shirts.  We made the news of our newest family member Facebook Official tonight!  I'm really happy with how our little photo shoot went considering it took all of 10-15 minutes.  We've got two excited kids and two excited parents anxiously awaiting this new baby!

To catch up on the journey of this new baby, click the label 'And Baby Makes 5' at the bottom of this post.

14 Week Check Up

 

Today I went for a visit at Dr. Putman's office.  I had another sonogram done and little one was extremely active.  It's always such a relief to hear the heartbeat (160bpm) and see movement.  I even got a little hand wave today!  I'm pretty sure I've been feeling a few little flutters of movement periodically, though it's still fairly early.  Dr. Putman says he's not going to tell me that I haven't been feeling anything, as this is my 3rd baby and I know what it feels like.  We'll see if the feelings and movement gets stronger in the next few weeks.  They didn't get a good length measurement because the baby's legs were all curled up.  We go back on June 9th for the big sonogram!

 

My ovaries are measuring about 5 cm now, so about half as big as they were last time.  Dr. Putman is extremely happy with this improvement and says I'm clear to exercise and move about as long as I'm feeling good.  I've gained about 4lbs, and Dr. Putman was ok with that.  I've been getting my appetite back for sure.  There is no hiding my belly at this point, it's definitely there.  Guess I need to work on taking some belly pics.

Baby Love

 

The kids are noticing my growing belly and wanted to give the baby some love.  It was pretty cute!

I think it's interesting that my belly is smaller now than it was several weeks ago.  The kids are just more in tune with it now that they know there is a baby in there!  I'm 12 weeks pregnant and just about ready to head into the second trimester.  Fingers crossed it's a smooth one!  Other than being extremely tired, I'm feeling much better and almost like a productive, contributing to life person again.

Big News

Tonight we told Alex and Amelia our big news.  They are going to be a big brother and sister in October!!!  It took a while for them to get it, but they seem pretty excited!  I can't get the video to upload.

First Visit with Dr. Putman

The sonogram today showed a wiggly little thing, with a heart beat of170 bpm and measuring 2.27 cm (8wks 5days), though I'm 9 weeks pregnant today.  My ovaries are still enlarged:  left one is measuring 6.4 cm and the right one is 9.24 cm.  Everything with baby looks great.   Dr. Putman still wants me to stay on restricted activity, but expects the swelling to be significantly better at our next visit.  We'll get another sonogram to check progress, which is fine with me since I'll get to see the baby again.

Back to Work

Today I headed back to work.  It was nice to be back at work and not just laying around all day, but man am I tired!!!!  I got used to having a nice long afternoon nap every day.  Hoping that I can continue to take it easy and stay at work.  I'd rather use my time off for when the baby is here not while I can carry the little one around with me unnoticed!!  Well, it's noticeable since my belly is still swollen, though it is decreasing in size.  This is going to feel like a really long pregnancy since I've already had to bust out the maternity clothes!

First Sonogram

 

Today we saw Dr. Loret de Mola and got our first glimpse of Baby Kershaw.  The heart beat was 119 beats per minute  and was wiggling all around.  It's amazing that this little thing can already have a heart beat and have it's parents heart too!  We are optimistic that things will all be ok.

 

My ovaries are still extremely enlarged, but I've been given the ok to go back to work starting Monday.  They say my ovaries are each roughly the size of a softball.  Praying that all goes well and we keep moving in a positive direction.  The Dr. said it will more than likely take another 6-7 weeks before my ovaries are normal sized again.  I will call Dr. Putman, my regular OB/GYN and get an appointment set up with him in about three weeks.

Sacrifice

 

My stomach is huge and I am miserable!!!  I've been laying in bed reading and resting.  It sounds like the life, but it's really not that fun.  It's amazing the lengths that a Mom will go to make sure that this teeny tiny little life inside them has a chance to grow and flourish.  I'm doing this all for you little one.  Mommy has loved you from the moment she found out about you!!!

Getting My Hair Fixed

 

I've been on bed rest for over a week now so fixing my hair is not top priority.  Daddy is at the Sports Booster's dinner/fundraiser tonight.  The kids and I are hanging out at home, so they've decided to make me look pretty and fix my hair.  This job kept them entertained for way longer than it should!  Luckily, I just had to sit there and look beautiful!

Swollen!!

 

The swelling just keeps getting bigger.  I'm miserable and can barely move.  I'm not even 5 weeks pregnant yet!  YIKES!  I've also been feeling pretty nauseous of an evening and haven't been eating much, but I'm making it through.  We're just taking one day at a time.

Dr's Orders

 

 

As of today, I'm officially on bed rest.  My ovaries are extremely swollen (about 9 cm each, normal is 3cm) and I'm very uncomfortable.  Looks like the couch and I are going to get to know each other pretty well.

Some POSTIVE News!!

The kids have no clue yet, but they were excited to take a picture!

It's official. . .  there's another Kershaw coming to our family!!!

Follow Up Appointment

Today, I called the Dr's office to inquire about the pain and bloating I was having following my IUI last Tuesday.  They had me come in and they did a sonogram.  It was discovered that my ovaries were hyper-stimulated, which also occurred with my pregnancy with Amelia.  They advised me to take it easy, and we would continue to monitor the situation.  Fingers crossed things improve.  Lisa also told me that I shouldn't head out of town this weekend if I was feeling bad.  Lady, I'm going!!  I need my family time.

A Big Day!!

 

In September, we decided that we would try one more time to add to our family.  The bad news first, Dr. Galle retired so we couldn't go back to him.  We were able to go to SIU Fertility and see the only fertility Dr in the Springfield area.  His name is Dr. Loret de Mola, though our first meeting was with his Nurse Practioner, Lisa Greenacre. 

 

We told her were really just wanted to pick up where we left off with Dr. Galle because he had things figured out.   She wanted to run some preliminary tests, which I wasn't really fond of doing since Dr. Galle had done them and we knew what the problem was.  Anyway, long story short my glucose A1C level was higher than she wanted it to be, so I had to continue taking my Metformin pills that I had started in July and retest in another month of so.  In October I had to go to the hospital and have a dye test done, but everything came back normal as I expected it would!  In November my levels were lower, but still not where she wanted them.  I held off testing again until January because of the holidays, etc.  My levels came back good! 

 

Now the good news, we were able to finally start the process of trying for a baby again.  After a few weeks of sonograms and shots today is the day we have our insemination and keep our fingers crossed!!!