17 Weeks and Counting

Hello friends!  It's been a busy 10 days or so here.  I've been dealing with a root canal, a UTI, and hip pain, but all is on the mend I believe.  When it rains it pours, I guess!  Besides blogging to keep my sanity, I've also been participating in an online support group for women with SCH and answering medication-related questions on the Babycenter message boards.  And I've now won 311 games of Klondike.  Just keeping the brain active.  :)

Since I'm sure you're all wondering about baby, I'll give you the latest update from my appointment with my midwife today.  If you're confused, I now see a midwife, an OB, and an MFM specialist.  Lucky me.  Well anyway, the baby had a nice strong heartbeat on doppler and was very active.  My uterus has definitely grown and is "nice and big".  That would indicate the placenta is working (a concern, since an SCH is the result of a tear in the placenta).  We'll know for sure once I have my ultrasound on Monday.  Please pray for a disappearing clot and a healthy baby!  And stay tuned for the gender update.  :)

Noah is still thriving with his grandparents around.  He really enjoys his daily walks with them.  He's also been sitting up for longer periods of time and is getting ready to crawl by rocking back and forth on his hands and knees.  He also enjoys standing up and leaning on the couch or ottoman and playing with his toys up there.  My little man is growing up so fast already!  Here are my favorite photos of the week:

Playing with Noah

We have been very blessed to have Chris' parents staying with us these past couple of weeks.  They have been cooking, cleaning, and caring for Noah while I've been resting.  It is such a joy to see how they delight in him.  Here are a couple of videos they took while playing with Noah:

I have no idea how we'll manage once they leave!  I know Noah will miss them very much too.  Good thing we have them here for a couple of more weeks.  :)

A Little Update

Chris and I met with the MFM doctor today.  She was very nice, and asked a hundred questions.  We spent most of our time talking about how the avascular necrosis will affect the pregnancy, and how things will be handled in the future.  For example, I may need to be on blood thinners if I become less mobile (but not now), and I may need pain medication (so far, so good), and any surgery will likely wait until at least 8 weeks postpartum.  I'll have my MRI repeated then to see how things have changed.  She didn't seem overly concerned about the SCH since the baby is growing fine and there is plenty of fluid, both good signs that the placenta is working well.  Also, while the clot appears to be coming off the placenta (probably caused by a small tear or separation from the uterine wall) it is not BEHIND the placenta which would be much more dangerous.  I'll have my fetal survey ultrasound in 3 weeks where all this will be assessed again...and we'll hopefully find out the gender!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all my friends and family with little ones (and ones on the way).  This is my first "official" Mother's Day (I was pregnant with Noah last year) and I am certainly counting my blessings.  Noah is such a precious little miracle and I am honored to be his Mommy!  Such a privilege it is to watch him grow and learn and change every day.  We have had a very relaxing weekend as a family so far.  Yesterday my sweet husband Chris surprised me and his mother with flowers:

and then we all enjoyed a lovely lobster (lobstah) dinner.  Today Chris made me breakfast and I spent some time playing with Noah.  He likes being given his bucket of toys and picking out what he wants to play with (everything eventually ends up out of the bucket of course).  Today's play session was extra entertaining:

A bucket of toys makes a great hat, I guess!  He rolled into the bucket if you're wondering how he got there.  :)

Tonight Chris is doing nursery duty at church without me (what a guy!) and I'm continuing to rest up and hope my body is doing some healing.  I've been keeping busy reading and playing way too many games of Klondike on my iPhone (170 wins so far, lol).  Tomorrow is my appointment with the Maternal-Fetal Medicine (high risk) doctor and I'm quite nervous about it.  Mostly because I hate seeing a specialist of any kind, and I'm not sure she'll have a whole lot more to tell me besides "wait and see."  I'm thankful to have made it to 15 weeks today, and am hopeful for many more.  Keeping praying for us!

Meet Baby Lee

Ultrasound today!  Bad news first: SCH (subchorionic hematoma) is still there, and about the same size.  Good news: baby has grown quite a bit in the last 10 days, and is right on target for size.  It also has a strong heartbeat.  Meet Baby Lee:

The big dark spot underneath the baby is the SCH.  As you can see, it's huge.  But baby is still happily swimming around in there which is the most important thing.  Precious little one!

Little Milestones

Yesterday had it's highs and lows.  I went to the OB and heard baby's heartbeat again (yay!).  Then I met with the hip surgeon who was about as unprofessional as they come.  I'll be hitting the MD review sites to complain.  He basically said he wanted nothing to do with me until after I had the baby.  After he made fun of me, of course, for having two babies in a row.  Needless to say, when the time comes for me to have surgery, he won't be the one wielding the scalpel.  For now I will try not to think about it and will seek other opinions when the time is closer. 

That afternoon, I was pleasantly surprised to see this:

Noah sitting up and playing with his toys!  Before when I would sit him up he would whine and throw his body backwards, or else lean forward and roll over.  My big boy!  Seven months old now.  :)

I've also been really enjoying listening to Noah play with his grandparents, especially his grandfather.  Such a quiet man, he just comes to life when the baby is around.  His high-pitched "baby talk" is priceless!  I think Noah's grandmother is just as taken with him as his grandfather is.  What a blessing they have been!

Today has been a nice day of rest.  I have rediscovered the game Snood (as dear Melanie said, it was our generation's Angry Birds).  I've been playing on my iPhone.  Thank goodness for portable technology when you're stuck in bed!  Tomorrow is my next ultrasound appointment.  Praying for a much reduced blood clot and a healthy baby!

More Complications

This past week was rough adjusting to bed rest, and I miss caring for my baby Noah so much.  To think I have been complaining these past weeks about carrying him around, and now I can't!  Another blessing I took for granted.  Thursday we went to the OB and heard baby Lee's heartbeat, which was very reassuring.  And Friday I went for an MRI on my left hip, since I have been experiencing leg pain since last fall when I was pregnant with Noah and after 4 months of physical therapy I haven't improved.  The MRI showed that I have a condition called Avascular Necrosis.  This means that at some point last fall blood supply was interrupted to my hip temporarily and caused the bone tissue there to die.  It is a rare complication of pregnancy, and the mechanism of injury isn't known for sure.  For now, this means I have to be on crutches to protect the joint.  Most likely after this baby is born I will need surgery, possibly a total hip replacement.  This has been quite a blow to me, as you can imagine, given what else I have been through this week.

Next up is an OB appointment tomorrow, an ultrasound on Thursday, and on Monday a consultation with a doctor from Maternal-Fetal Medicine who specializes in high-risk pregnancies.  Please pray for us:
1) that the clot will have shrunk on ultrasound
2) that the baby continues to be healthy and grow normally
3) that the placenta is not affected
4) that I do not have another major bleed, and that I do not develop blood clots in my leg or lungs as a result of my limited mobility
5) for our family that is under a lot of stress right now

Thank you!

Surviving bed rest by blogging!

Today I decided to start blogging because I seem to have endless time on my hands these days.  How does the mother of a 6 month old accomplish this?  Bed rest, and a sweet mother-in-law to take care of us.  That's right, the Lee family is expecting another little Lee around November 4, 2012.  For those of you counting, that's 13 months after the birth of our little Noah.  This pregnancy started out easier than the first, but became complicated as of Monday when I was diagnosed with a subchorionic hematoma (don't look it up, you'll scare yourself).  Anyway, I'm on bed rest while we wait and see what God's plan is for our little miracle.  Trying to enjoy each day of it's life, however brief it may be.  I've never felt so terrified in my whole life, but I take comfort in the fact that God created this baby, loves it, and works through all things and circumstances.  Thanks for following us on our journey!