Pregnancy #6 : Week 19-20 Update

For those that aren't familiar with our story, two and a half years ago we lost a baby with Trisomy 18 at 28 weeks in utero.  You can read all about it here.  And you can read our journey of how we got to pregnancy number 6 here.  Today I am excited to share a week 19-20 update along with the results of our ultrasounds.  And also a few other things I have been thinking about and trying to process over the last few weeks and months.

I have discussed the fear that comes with pregnancy after loss and I have shared my inability to walk into a baby store or actually buy anything for baby number 6 here.  And I have shared that it is a girl here!

But what I haven't shared is the unique reality that this baby is due in the same month that we lost our son two years ago.

Two and a half years ago I lost a baby boy at 28 weeks with Trisomy 18.  He was due in January, but at 28 weeks, one day there was no movement and I knew he was gone.  I shared about the birth of that baby here.  He was born October 18, 2013.

And after a long time trying and another miscarriage we were pregnant with baby number 6.  Baby number 6 is due October 9, 2016.  So there is a chance our angel baby and our rainbow baby will share the same birth month.

It is both exciting and hard.  It will be hard celebrating a birth and a loss at nearly the same time.  But I also think it will be good.  It will be joyful and it will be exciting.  Our son we lost will never be forgotten but it will be fun to have a birthday to celebrate that month too.  It will be an adventure if nothing else.

Life was fairly busy around here as usual, but at 19.5 weeks we were able to take a peek at what our little baby looked like.

We were both looking forward to the ultrasound, but I was also very nervous.  The last ultrasound we had at about this point in pregnancy confirmed out baby had Trisomy 18.  So I was nervous that they would find something wrong.  It is usually such a joyful day, getting this ultrasound, but I had such hesitation and reservations going into it.  I wanted to know that things looked ok, or not, but I was worried too.

Thankfully everything looked good!  There were no red flags, all the measurements looked good and as far as we could see the baby looks healthy!  Hurray!  Oh, and it is still a girl 🙂

Want to see a few pictures of our little baby girl?

Cute little profile!

We got a thumbs up from baby girl!

A super cute little foot!

So fun huh?

And here are a couple belly shots from weeks 19 and 20 just because.

I am trying to make due with the clothing I have and not buy many maternity things yet.  Most of the maternity clothing actually doesn't fit yet, but I know with summer coming, I will need to snag a pair of capris and a few shirts soon.

For the most part I feel fine during the day although I still have bouts of nausea quite often which is no fun at all.  I occasionally nap but not for as long as I did during my first trimester.  And I occasionally manage to be productive.  Woot woot!

I still love eating Pad Thai and fresh homemade guacamole.  And I am sad that there is no good yummy fresh mexican food in this entire state because that sounds really good!  Every time I travel I try to find yummy mexican food to help get me through.

I am trying to still work out as much as I can and stay active, but I have been having quite a bit of lower back pain recently that has made sitting, lying down, standing, walking and sleeping very difficult and painful for me.  There are days when it just hurts to exist.  When it hurts to sit, stand, walk and just be.  The hardest part though are the nights when I can't get comfortable and I can't sleep or I wake up in the middle of the night due to the pain.  I keep trying to do stretches and everything I can to relieve the pain though so hopefully it will help.

My belly is getting bigger by the day and I am feeling our little girl move more and more often.  Her kicks and movements are getting stronger and more consistent so that is really fun.  Still not consistent enough or strong enough to really be felt on the outside yet though.

Although I experience the typical pregnancy symptoms, I also really can't complain too much.  It has been such a long journey to get to this point that I don't feel like I have any right to complain at all.  I truly should just be happy to be pregnant with a healthy baby girl.  And we are happy.

I will try to continue to keep you filled in on our pregnancy journey, but I also don't want to overwhelm you with constant updates on my blog, so I the updates will be fewer and farther between I am sure from here on out.  But, please be sure to follow me on Facebook and Instagram where I will continue to share fun pictures and updates more often then on my blog!  Plus with summer coming up I will definitely be sharing more of our fun family adventures on Instagram too!

Thank you for letting me continue to share our journey with you.  I can't wait to share more soon.

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