Sharing our news

I'm so close to being in 2nd trimester, and we had a good NT scan this week, so we decided to share our news not only with any friends and family we hadn't yet told, but also with all of our social media friends on Facebook!

Hooray!

Brad and I definitely share Nora's enthusiasm.

Along with the NT scan, I had the Panorama blood draw done. In "approximately 10 business days", we will have a complete DNA analysis on this little one. That includes information about whether or not he or she may have some kind of genetic disorder (all signs point to no so far, thankfully) and it will also reveal whether baby is a boy baby or a girl baby! Nora has not wavered. She insists it is a baby sister, and I'm starting to believe her.

I also took another picture recently of my bulging belly. The jury is out on how much this is actually related to baby, but considering my belly looks now like it did at 20 weeks with Nora, I'm going to act as though it is.

I wish I could say that now that I'm almost 13 weeks that I was feeling so much better, but I'm still dealing with the constant mild nausea and fatigue. I think with Nora, I started to feel better between 13 and 14 weeks. Or was it 14 and 15? I 'm not sure, but I'm hoping that the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is almost in sight!

Wiggly Worm

Today we got to see our little Wiggle Worm again, and s/he has changed so much already.  Baby was showing off by kicking and flipping all over the place, and s/he had a very strong heart rate of 175. Nora's was always in the 150s and 160s, so I was surprised at how high it was. I asked the ultrasound tech if it was ok to be so high, and she assured me that it was in a very healthy range.

Several people have told us that a 2nd pregnancy wouldn't be as exciting as the 1st, but that hasn't been our experience at all. In a way, it's almost more exciting for us because now we know what is waiting for us at the other end. Before Nora, we had no idea what that unconditional love that a parent has for their child felt like, and it was much greater than we could have imagined. Knowing how much love we will have (already have!) for this baby is pretty amazing now that it is no longer uncharted territory.

My next appointment is on July 17th. That's when I'll have the 1st trimester screening that includes the NT scan and the Harmony blood panel. This is something that is offered to patients who are in a "high risk" category. For me, that high risk category is my "advanced maternal age".  We have faith that we will learn that baby is healthy, but we want to have as much information as possible, no matter what the results may be.