Baby Mac's First Friends

Over the past couple of months, I've had the privilege of babysitting two of my friends' infant sons for brief periods of time.  I've loved the company and the practice, even more so, knowing that these boys are sure to become good friends with our son.  So I took the opportunity yesterday to capture our son's first photo with baby Luke.

Luke's father and my hubby work together, and Luke's mommy and I both had long distance marriages to our husbands for a while.  She from Canada, and I from DC.  So as soon as we both settled in Houston, we became instant friends.  Luke's mom and I have been having puppy play dates for years, and have/will host each other's Houston baby showers.  So these boys have no choice but to become good friends (like their furry brothers have become -- see below).

Baby Luke's dog "Jack" in the pool, and baby Mac's dog "Tito" on the side during one of their many playdates. 

If baby Mac is on time, Luke and he will be only 8 months apart.  Hopefully Luke will show him the ropes! I have a feeling they will be little troublemakers however, if they take after their fathers.  

21.5 Weeks Pregnant (Photo)

 {Please don't pay attention to the mess}

4th Prenatal Appointment - 21 Week Ultrasound - Two Vessel Cord

We've made it through the 21 week ultrasound seemingly unscathed, but with some minor bruises....

The good, no, let's rephrase, great news is that the baby boy is indeed a boy and healthy as far as we know!  At the 75th percentile,  he is above average in growth, organs are looking good, and limbs measuring well [Note: we were not able to analyze his heart chambers or measure legs because he wouldn't cooperate by uncrossing his legs, so that remains to be checked off at the next visit. However, Dr. said from what she could see it looks fine, but they just can't clear it without a better picture].  

BUT (there is always a but these days isn't there....?), the umbilical cord has two vessels instead of three.  Most babies, 99% of babies, cords' have 3 vessels: 1 vein to bring in nutrients, and 2 arteries to take out toxins.

My baby has only 2: 1 vein to bring in nutrients and 1 artery to take toxins out.

This means his one artery is working overtime to take the toxins out of his body.

My doctor says that she will monitor the baby more closely in the 3rd trimester to make sure he is growing, but that there shouldn't be any complications as long as he is closely monitored.  In the old days with less monitoring, there were severe complications...   But I'm not going to go there since we are in the new days now.  If he stops growing in the last month or two, it means he might not be getting the nutrients he needs to grow and therefore the doctor will need to induce me early to get him out...   However, my doctor said that she has seen lots of normal pregnacies with this complication resultingwith the baby growing all the way to the due date with no complications, and that we can think optimistically that will happen to us.  However, I will still need to be seen nearly 2x a week the last month to make sure the doctor monitors growth and doesn't  miss any signs.

At our screening today, everything we could see was growing fine, better than fine, above average---so, he looks healthy and good and it seems his artery is working fine.   "They" used to think that a two vessel cord also meant greater likelihood of genetic abnormalities like Down Syndrome and Trisomy, but thats recently under scrutiny as there is no evidence.  Plus, we already screened for both of them already and were given very optimistic results that the baby did not have either. The more recent article below states optimistically, "More recent studies have shown that babies with isolated SUA do not appear to be at any greater risk of poor growth that the fetus with a normal three vessel umbilical cord."

It will also be very important to screen the heart chambers at my  next ultrasound since we couldn't clearly see it this visit (not to worry, its best seen at 22-24 weeks so I went in a little early).  If the heart chambers look good next visit, I will feel much better.

Apparently 1% of births and 5% of multiple births have this anomaly and they almost always result in healthy births with no side effects afterwards.  So, I believe that given this baby is already above average in growth, his little artery is kicking butt and performing twice as well as other ordinary arteries.   This kid is not only a survivor but reaching his maximum potential even in utero!  We've got a winner on our hands.

Some new glamour shots:

Baby Mac looking directly at us.

Looking at baby Mac's bum from below.  So you see his right leg extended out and his little man part in the middle. 

Some articles on Two-Vessel Cords:
http://www.obfocus.com/high-risk/birthdefects/single%20umbilical%20artery.htm
http://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/ask-heidi/two-vessel-cord.aspx
http://www.babycenter.com/400_2-vessel-cord-and-delivery_3035643_918.bc

Baby Kicks

I've heard that new mothers can feel the baby moving around starting week 18 or so.  Well, at week 18 I had moments of "Is he moving?" but now at week 20, there is NO question about it.  He's been moving ALL THE TIME.   In my case, its not just a tickling of flurries, it is very obvious.  Maybe this means my little kicker will be a soccer star :)

Its become rather uncomfortable too.  At this point, its been advised that I ONLY sleep on my sides because sleeping on my back cuts of blood circulation to the baby.  So I've been waking up a lot a bit anxious because I get the  feeling the baby is kicking trying to get more blood circulated.  Furthermore, every time I get up, or off a chair, I feel like I am scrunching and hurting him.  I feel slight pangs.

We're going to our 20 week appt this week, so hopefully the doctor will confirm these feelings are  normal.  Until then, off to another sleepless night!

Are boys easier than girls?

I'm not going to lie...after the gender reveal, I went straight to the mall and went shopping.  The next day, I did the same.  And the next day?  The same.  And each time I stopped at the baby girls clothes first oohing and awing at the adorable ensembles.  It took about three visits before I stopped going to the girls section to see what I was missing...  But now, I've know fully embraced baby boy clothes and am counting down the days before I could put baby Mac in his little polos and loafers.

I've also fully embraced the idea of having a son because for some reason, I feel a sense of relief.  As if having a son will be less taxing on me, less stressful, more drama-free and overall just more manageable.  Am I completely wrong?  I am not sure why I feel this way.  Maybe its because the mothers I've met with all boys all seem to be a lot less stressed and more carefree than those with daughters.  Maybe its because the little boys I know all seem to be a lot more respectful and caring to their parents than their sassy daughters.  I'm not saying its better to have a son, because I CERTAINLY will adore any sassy daughter of mine as much as a reliable son, but for some reason, I feel like I have less anxiety in becoming somebody's mother because its a boy.  Like they are harder to screw up or something. As if there is a prescription to follow and they'll turn out okay.  Love, food, support = good boy.  Right?

Am I off my rockers?  Are sons more work than daughters?

2nd Trimester Symptoms

I think its finally safe to say the nausea has subsided, woo hoo!  I still experience bouts of dry heaving but its not accompanied by the miserable nauseous feeling so I hope that part is over for good.

However, the second trimester has brought on a whole new onset of symptoms.

Breathlessness
I find it difficult sometimes to take deep full breaths.  I need to concentrate and really work on my breath to make it happen. 
Changing shape
Pop!  I can no longer suck in my stomach.  I popped and its all hanging out there for everyone to see.  Some women pop and they look all cute with a teeny baby bump.   I popped, and immediately gained what seems the size of a watermelon.   Let's be honest here... my stomach has always been my problem area...so I already had a bit of a pouch to begin with.  Once the baby/uterus popped my belly, the previous "problem zone" popped with it, so its ALL hanging out and there is nothing I can do.    I don't really mind it, you see, because its now CLEAR I am preganant and not just packing on the pounds.  In fact its like heaven, I don't need to suck in for the next five months!
Bad dreams and Insomnia
Maybe the insomnia is caused by the bad dreams.  But one thing is for sure, when I wake up from one in the middle of the night, I cannot do anything to make myself fall back asleep.  I've had a few pretty bad nights begging myself to go back to sleep for HOURS.
Heartburn
To tell you the truth, I never really knew what heartburn was or what Tums were for.  Now I do.  Daily, I feel heartburn and its not so pleasant.  But its better than those awful first trimester headaches. 

Cinco de Mayo Party

We bought our home last July with the intention of hosting friends, family and parties here often.  We had a smashing housewarming party in September and hosting the Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Group of Houston's holiday party in December.  We were due for another party B.C. (before child).  So we settled on Cinco de Mayo, since it would be right after my 2nd trimester began and hopefully I'd be feeling good and we can share the news with friends at the time.  It was the right choice.  It was the first week where I really began feeling well so I went into overdrive in terms of party planning.  I rented a margarita machine, bought  hundreds of decorations, designed and ordered custom beer koozies, and even creating a photobooth  -- all of which helped pull off a successful fiesta.   Our last guests left at 2:00am.  We hope to host this again next year with Baby Mac in our lives.  Those might be famous last words, but its our intention at this point.  And next year, we'll hire a mariachi band too.

Some pics below: