2nd trimester check in for the week of November 20th

momma6angels11 · November 2017

Good morning!

This is a weekly check-in for those in their 2nd trimester: weeks 14 through the end of week 27.

Congrats to all the strong ladies who have made it this far! It's such a great feeling and we've all accomplished so much! We are now 1 week closer to the end of this especially long journey we call "infertility."

Please post below a little about yourself, how many beans you have growing inside, if you have found out the sex(es) and what your EDD is. Please also let us know how far you've made it on your journey and when your next appointment is and what for. If I'm missing anyone from this list, or you are new to the 2nd tri, please let me know and I will add you.

Please let us know when you have graduated to 3rd trimester so that I can take you off.

Mommies to be:

@thucks EDD 2/17 Girl

@kaseycoco EDD 2/27 Boy!

@momma6angels11 EDD 3/9 (Boy/Girl TWINS)

@amanning2011 EDD 3/25 TWINS! G/G

@cashewchicken EDD 4/11 BOY!

@rel_1987 EDD 4/21 Boy!

@Prayingfor2 EDD 4/22

@Meredithj 123 EDD 4/24

@nmtay EDD 4/27 TWINS! B/G

@helloworld9 ; EDD 5/5

QOTW:What are your plans for Thanksgiving? What was one of your best memories from Thanksgiving as a child?

amanning2011 · November 2017

Hi

For Thanksgiving we are all going to my Aunt and Uncle's for Thanksgiving. I don't really have any stand out memories from Thanksgiving as a kid, though my memory is kind of crappy in the first place, lol.

Out of curiosity, does anyone else have really bad pain where their leg meets their torso the day after they have walked a lot? I'm wondering if I'm straining the tendon there

thucks · November 2017

Hey everyone. Looks like this is my last week in the 2nd trimester I am 27w3d today. I am sooo sick I have been fighting my allergies and it hit bad yesterday. My face hurts so bad, I want to rip out my teeth and I barely have a voice. I went to convenient care yesterday, I have severe sinusitis and was given a typical z-pack but was told that I can't take it until my OB ok's it. I've been waiting on a call back for 7hrs now. ggrrr

@amanning2011 When I was prego with the twins that's where most of my pulling and tugging would happen. I would feel the most pain or discomfort where the leg meets the torso.

DH is working on Thanksgiving so we have ours on Saturday. I don't have alot of family so ours is more of a Friendsgiving. It's kind of an extended family meal. We try to invite people that don't really have anywhere to go so they can have a good home cooked meal. ( I kinda require everything to be from scratch sorry I'm very old fashioned. lol) Growing up it was just my mom and I so we spent many Thanksgivings at the good old Denny's or Cracker Barrel.

momma6angels11 · November 2017

@amanning2011 I havent had that pain yet this pregnancy, but I did with my last pregnancy.
@thucks im sorry you are feeling so crappy, and i hope your ob gets back with you soon! I bet you are so glad you will be in the 3rd trimester this week! I will join you in a few weeks and i cant wait.. i love food made from scratch!!

helloworld9 · November 2017

Well, I got a not so great call from the OB's office this afternoon. I had my blood drawn for the AFP test when I was 15+6 last week. They told me my baby has elevated risk for downs, 1:225 (don't recall exact number but close). They wanted to see something along the lines of 1:500+. The OB didn't tell me I had to do a NT or NIPT at my 12 week appointment, but now she wants me to come in for a blood draw for the NIPT. I know the odds are still low, but I still can't help but think I've come so far and now things aren't looking good...

amanning2011 · November 2017

@thucks and @momma6angels11 I saw the OB today just to be safe (I had called the office on an unrelated topic and asked about it, they wanted me to come in) and it looks like I might have pushed myself too much shopping yesterday and pulled the muscle, oops.

@helloworld9 I'm sorry you are having to do more tests

hopefully it's a false positive.

helloworld9 · November 2017

@amanning2011 I hope it's a false positive too. I am leaning towards not doing an amnio if it comes to it, since there is a chance of miscarriage due to the water breaking. They can draw all the blood from me if they want.

thucks · November 2017

@helloworld9 I'm so sorry that you are getting bad news. This is a rough journey all in it's self and then to add more what if's and possible problems to it can be extra hard. Prayers go to you and @Prayingfor2.

AFM still waiting for doc approval to take meds. The nurse doesn't want to ok it herself so we are waiting on the doc. This baby sure doesn't like me coughing very much she's moving quit a bit like I'm keeping her awake.

wabash15 · November 2017

@thucks I hope you feel better soon.

momma6angels11 · November 2017

I'm praying its a false positive for both @Prayingfor2 and @helloworld9..

momma6angels11 · November 2017

24+4 today with the twins!!
I had a cervix ultrasound and cervix was still good..seen babies, but never got any pictures today..kinda disappointed.. but oh well Im going for a 4d ultrasound tomorrow so ill get several then.. both babies were very active today..as i think they were saying FEED US!! I was fasting for my glucose test and didnt get to eat until after 12pm..

AS for Thanksgiving.. we are going to my sisters only 30 minutes away.. as for memories.. my best memory is my mom cooking all the usual dishes on thanksgiving and our whole family gathering for dinner.. i miss this so much, as it hasn't been the same since my mom passed away back in 2015.

helloworld9 · November 2017

Thank you @thucks @wabash15 @momma6angels11

I went in for my NIPT blood draw today. They had to stick me five times to get a vein. Once in my hand even. That bruised up pretty badly. My OB says they will hopefully get the results back end of next week, then the week after I will go in for an 18 week anatomy ultrasound.

kaseycoco · November 2017

@helloworld9 I'm sorry you have to go through extra tests and all the stress that comes along with that. I know it's a lot on top of an already difficult road to get this far. Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

@thucks sorry you're feeling sick, I hope your doctor approves your meds soon. I had a terrible head cold last week and my dr said the only thing I could take was vicks vapor rub and tylenol, it was really hard!

QOTW for Thanksgiving I'm going to my parents with my brother's family and then we will see my husband's family on Friday. Most of my memories of Thanksgiving are just eating together. Our family rarely sat down to eat together at the dining room table, but I remember my mom would always make the table seem extra inviting with a special holiday table cloth and candles etc. which we never did any other time of the year. It's funny how the setting really made it feel extra special to eat together.

wabash15 · November 2017

@helloworld9 sorry they had such a hard time getting blood. hugs I am sure this wait is hard.

amanning2011 · November 2017

@helloworld9 I'm sorry they had a hard time getting a draw from you

I can be a hard draw sometimes so I always find out when my blood draws will be and use one of those Hot Hands packs on the site for a bit before the draw. It helps plump up the vein and brings it to the surface which can make the draw a little easier. My dad's doctor recommended it for when he was going through chemo and it helped him, too

nmtay · November 2017

Prayers for @Prayingfor2 @helloworld9 and @thucks. Keep us posted, and I hope you feel better, physically and emotionally, soon!

AFM 17+6 with my twins. Next week we have our anatomy scan and I am very excited and appprehensive. Hoping that everything goes well, and excited to see the babies! I seriously wonder what people used to do back before ultrasounds were common...I probably would have worried myself sick the entire 9 months! Feeling them move definitely helps though, so I'm glad for that!

QOTW: We are going to my in-laws for lunch nd my grandma's for dinner. Still playing the split holiday game, but honestly it's better this way cause neither of us can stand being around our families for more than a few hours at a time, so it gives us an excuse to leave when we need to, and going to my grandma's is a great thing to look forward to after my insane in-laws.

This isn't a memory so much as a tradition, but one of my favorite things about thanksgiving is that my grandma makes asparagus soup! A few years ago, my grandpa added a twist if serving it inside acorn squash bowls, which is both exciting and extra delicious, so we also latched on to that one! I am definitely looking forward to this thanksgiving, as I am behind on my weight gain and I have every excuse on the planet to stuff my face with pie and mashed potatoes!

meredithj123 · November 2017

@Prayingfor2 @helloworld9 praying for good results for both of you!

I'm 18+1 with a little bean. I didn't post last week as we were on our babymoon in Australia. Luckily everything went fine, the 15 hour flight was a bit rough with the back pain I've been having but it was totally worth it! It was happy and sad though as this will likely be our last trip together without baby. We travel a lot and are quite adventurous so it was semi sweet. Had my appointment today, nothing exciting, HR 160 (nice that DH could come and hear the heart beat for the first time). I got my second trimester screen done today. Other than than, next appointment is anatomy scan December 14, and then my next OB appointment is in 7 weeks.

I don't have any thanksgiving traditions, I didn't grow up in the US. In Canada we celebrate it in October and it's not a huge holiday. Everyone celebrates it, but it's not about football and shopping which is kinda nice. My husband and I haven't been home in 4 years for thanksgiving as we normally take the extra holiday days to travel somewhere. I'm working tomorrow but will celebrate at my sister in laws house with family afterwards! Hope everyone has a great holiday!!

PS any good cyber monday or black friday deals for baby stuff? I want a bob stroller if anyone sees a deal anywhere!!

cashewchicken · November 2017

Hi Ladies,

Some of you may remember me from the first trimester thread. I'm 20w1d with a baby boy according to my transfer date, but have measured 5 days ahead on the dating ultrasound. EDD is 4/11/18 (or 4/6/18). I took a little break from the bump after a series of problems in the first half of the second trimester.

***Apologies for the long post***
I started this pregnancy with a PGS tested embryo, and my first trimester was totally uneventful with no pregnancy symptoms (no morning sickness, lucky, I know). During a 12-week scan, the doctor saw an increased NT (slightly above the cutoff) which raised the probability of Down Syndrome to 1:5 due to my AMA. Blood work (bHCG, PAPP-A) were normal. That triggered more tests, including a NIPT and a 14-week fetal echocardiogram. The NIPT came back normal, which was a huge relief but the echocardiogram came back with mild tricuspid valve leak. Shouldn't have googled as some of the papers suggested using triscuspid valve leak as a marker for Down syndrome, which made me so worried and scared (what if PGS and NIPT test results were false negative?). Still, we ended up not doing amnio as the risk of miscarriage seemed too great. It took us quite a bit to get here and just didn't seem worth it, especially with the NIPT test result. On top of all this, I also had hemorrhage due to SCH in my 13th week of pregnancy (up until that point, no bleeding whatsoever). That was the scariest night of my life. We went to the ER just to be safe and the baby was fine, but they discovered a small SCH (2cm). I bled on and off during week 18 and 19 of my pregnancy, though it was mostly old blood. Bleeding finally stopped last week, and I can finally breath a sigh of relief as we just had a 20-week anatomy scan and a follow-up echocardiogram and both came back normal!!! Hurray! Finally I can enjoy my pregnancy.
***End***

I'm celebrating this Thanksgiving with my family and my in-laws together! So that should be fun. The most memorable Thanksgiving from my childhood must have been the time my mom used a turkey bag for roasting a turkey and the bag caught on fire! My mom either screwed up the oven setting or the bag was physically touching the heating element or something, but that was scary!

This year we bought a cooked turkey so we should be accident-free.

Hopeful_mom · November 2017

****lurking*****

@cashewchicken sorry uve had such a roller coaster ride!!! It takes so long to get here the pregnancy should be easy for us!! I'm glad the beginning was smooth and even happier to hear everything is looking good now! I have a question for you seems I have an SCH myself and have had brown sight spotting since wk 7, then yesterday I had blood and had about a heart attack only bled for a few and thank g-d pnut is ok. I know am back to brown spotting more then I would like just wondering how long it lasts for, and how much did you have? It's definitely a scary thing!!
@helloworld9 keeping the faith ur tests will come back ok. I'm taking them on Tuesday and am terrified too!!

Keeping u all in my prayers!!

helloworld9 · November 2017

@kaseycoco @wabash15 @nmtay @meredithj123 Thank you!

@amanning2011 Those heat packs do help. But I think it really boils down to the skill of the nurse or lab tech.

@cashewchicken Such a roller coaster! So glad you made it out ok.

@Hopeful_mom Thank you! Spotting is always so scary. I hope your NIPT will go smoothly!

rel_1987 · November 2017

Hello ladies hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. I'm 19+0 weeks with a little boy. This week has been crazy due to the holiday. Have been having round ligament pain like crazy

@thucks hope you are feeling better.
@helloworld9 praying all your results come back good.
QOTW: We went to my in-laws Weds for their dinner and stayed local on Thanksgiving with my family. It was nice not to travel on Thanksgiving. A tradition we always do is the Saturday after thanksgiving we go to our cities Holiday in the city event. Food and fireworks. Theres pics with Santa and a parade. I will be taking my niece this year

thucks · November 2017

Good morning ladies. I'm doing better on my last day of meds. I'm not 100% but I'm better than I was last weekend. We are getting ready for thanksgiving at our house today. I've been spending the last 2 days helping dh with yard work I so can't do all the stuff I used to prebaby kinda driving me nuts. This is the first year I didn't hit the stores at 3am but I did manage to go late yesturday and it was still crazy.
I'm still praying for all of you who are having troubles and waiting for test results.

nmtay · November 2017

@cashewchicken and @Hopeful_mom I had 2 bleeding scares as well! So glad yours have resolved @cashewchicken but here is my story and a bit of info for @Hopeful_mom

At 7 wks, my cousin's husky jumped on me and I fell (or "flew" according to my husband and her boyfriend) down half a flight of stairs. Tried not to let myself worry, but the next day I spotted a bit so I went to the ER for an ultrasound. Two strong heartbeats, but discovered a SCH. Monitored over the next 2 weeks and it went down in size (I didn't bleed any more at this point, just the one day of spotting) so I switched over to my OB and he wasn't worried about it. Then, at 14 wks I woke up one morning with my underwear completely soaked in blood. No way to really tell red/brown ratios cause I didn't see it till morning, but I was actually bleeding, so I got an ultrasound abouy an hour later. Both babies were swimming around like crazy, so OB didn't bother to look for an explanation because he wouldn't have me change anything (I was too relieved to argue) then about an hour after we got home I passed a very large clot. And continued to spot brown for about a week. I had a scheduled ultrasound later that week and the babies were still doing great. This time, OB looked around more and said one of the placentas had partially detatchef so not to be surprised if I continued to spot. Like I said, it was a full week or more of spotting, and it could have been much more had I not passed the whole clot at once. I was scheduled to fly 2 days after the spotting stopped, but the doc said brown blood=old blood, so don't worry too much about it. If you are worried, schedule another ultrasound sooner rather than later, but this is definitely something that happens all the time. My mom had 3 full period-scale bleeding scares with me and I turned out just fine! Good luck!!!

momma6angels11 · November 2017

@cashewchicken I will get you added!! Its so great to see you here..i remember you from the june FET group! I also had a really scary bleed and thought i lost both babies at 9 wks and then again at 12wks..

cashewchicken · November 2017

Hi@Hopeful_mom! I totally miss chatting with you! I agree with your comment about pregnancy should be easy for us... I'm hoping that blood test results @Prayingfor2 and @helloworld9 had this week were just false alarm. I've scoured the internet after my NT scan and what I found was that first trimester screening and Quad screening (AFP, etc) are notorious for 'false positives'. What the doctor at the fetal diagnostic center told me was that it's better to catch as many people with a slight risk and then do further testing to rule them out rather than miss anyone.

I'm sorry that you're also suffering from SCH... My SCH like I mentioned above, started at 13 weeks. I woke up with what felt like a leak... was a gush of blood. I freaked out and my husband and I immediately headed to the hospital. In hindsight, it was old blood (dark, almost black) and probably wasn't enough to fill the pad even, so probably didn't need to go to the hospital, but this was my first bleed, we didn't know. We left the hospital after confirming that there was no more active bleeding and my cervix was closed. During this time, they discovered a 2cm hematoma. For a month afterwards I had no bleeding. Bleeding started up again around 18 weeks, just a drop or two in the morning, just brown blood and that continued on and off for two weeks. I just had my anatomy scan (20 weeks) and forgot to inquire about the hematoma, so at this time I'm not sure if the hematoma is gone. Not sure if my 18/19-week bleed was from hematoma or from my cervix as around this time my belly became noticeably big.

Good luck on NIPT on Tuesday! You transferred a PGS embyro so the results should come back all negative for risks!

cashewchicken · November 2017

@nmtay and @momma6angels11, I'm sorry that you've experienced a bleed too, but I'm so happy that you both survived the ordeal!
@Hopeful_mom It seems the Dr's are looking for two things when their patient experiences a bleed: 1) Does it soak up a pad, and 2) What color is the blood. If the blood is not red, it's not active bleed and not something to be concerned about, apparently. And spotting is not unusual. When I googled, a lot of sites mentioned that SCH in the first trimester is not uncommon. Mine was in the second trimester, so got me worried, but the nurse at my hospital mentioned that that's pretty normal, too. But if you notice any changes in your bleeding pattern, do give your clinic a call, just so they are aware of what is going on. Better to be safe than sorry. But from what I've heard from my doctors and nurses, bleeding is not uncommon in pregnancy.

Hopeful_mom · November 2017

@nmtay what a scary ordeal to go through thank goodness your babies are thriving!!! Poor fur babies don't know their own strength! Thanks for sharing!!! Any bleeding is frightening!! (TW on top of experiencing a loss just makes it that much worse!)
@cashewchicken you're showing that's so exciting!!! I have my own lil muffin top so I'm sure I won't be showing for a while

Because I've had brown spotting I knew the difference right away unfortunately and it being a day before thanks giving I knew I needed to see my OB and I was lucky enough to catch him before he was gone for the day. My heart sank and as I was waiting the bleeding stopped and I was still so sick that I was praying for the best!!! How often is your OB seeing you? This is a new OB for me as mine no longer does delivery so the process of finding a new one has been tough BUT so far so good!! And yes my transfer was one of my normies but we know nothing is 100% however I keep trying to say this is just a formality praying for the best!! I wish is was May already!!

Amd yes I know they say it's normal but after what we've been through nothing is normal!! I think it's crazy I have a SCH with one and when I was carrying two I didn't we also know how that went so who knows what's best for me!! This lil one is already giving me the world to see!!

Anyone do any good shopping?

helloworld9 · November 2017

@rel_1987 Thank you. I hope I can hear something back from the OB by Friday.

@cashewchicken Yeah it's sort of crummy that there is such a high rate of false positives in those screening tests! Even higher is the rate of false negatives. It's like why even bother with those tests if they're not accurate? Sigh.

@Hopeful_mom I did some shopping online at Old Navy maternity and Motherhood Maternity. Oh and Nordstrom Rack. I did some damage to my credit card but since all of these places have decent return policies I will be keeping track of what I keep and what I return.

cashewchicken · November 2017

@Hopeful_mom I had a little muffin top too, when I started my pregnancy. I blame all the fertility meds for my bloat (not really, but anyways). My belly always got huge after a big meal so the pregnancy rumor was going around for years before this actual pregnancy. lol. I gained about 8 lbs but all on my belly so I look like a stick figure with a belly.

My OB (clinic, I don't have an OB that I see always) sees me maybe once a month, but we had so many tests in between that I felt like I was getting checked up every 2-3 weeks. I'm looking forward to reaching the 24-week milestone.

As for shopping, I just spent $$$ at anthropologie, nothing maternity related. I love soaps by Mistral and at 30% off, I couldn't pass up. Ridiculously expensive but smells so divine. My splurge* (well, one of many splurges, yikes) We also bought dining chairs to go with our dining table that we got like 2 years ago. We've been using this cheap dining chair that we used to use with our old table but now that we're grown up with a baby on the way, time to get real furniture (did I mention I'm 39? lol).

@helloworld9 Not sure why the first trimester screens and QUAD screens are administered with such low specificity and/or sensitivity. They need to come up with a better alternative. Great that you did some maternity clothes shopping! I've been meaning to do the same and I have looked into A Pea in the Pod and Nordstrom but found nothing that screamed "buy!". Alternatively, I've also been looking at non-maternity clothes that I may be able to wear as maternity clothes... well at least for the next couple of months before my belly become enormous. Pregnancy is making me super lazy and I'm even too lazy to shop online. That's never happened to me before!

helloworld9 · November 2017

@cashewchicken While I'm thankful we have non invasive alternatives to screen the fetus, the ones covered by insurance (like the NT and quad) are not helpful. I believe the NIPT is most accurate but it's considered relatively "new" (I think?) so it's not covered or required. Some maternity shops are expensive! And some of the clothes make me go huh? I know some people who just bought a size or two larger and wore those clothes instead.

nmtay · November 2017

Really hoping some of you see this cause I have a question...so I haven't done any of those tests. I mean I did whatever initial blood tests the OB did but I know I haven't done any marker screening things. I'm fairly certain my OB hasn't brought it up because we did PGS but now some of you are saying you did both??? I'm also 22 so my chances were lower in general, but then again so were my chances of infertility. Anyway, anyone who did both, was there a reason? Just routine? I'd love some clarification!

Also, I definitely would recommend real maternity clothes or at least flowy clothes that fit well over normal stuff a few sizes bigger. I'm actually a pattern engineer, and have literally done hundreds of hours of research on fitting clothes to bodies, and people always look best if they choose the size that fits their shoulders. If you're different sizes all over, that's where choosing flattering fits and fabrics comes in, but fitting your shoulders is absolutely key. That will definitely get harder as our bellies grow, but having a blazer or cardigan that fits your shoulders can help make up that visual difference!

helloworld9 · November 2017

@nmtay I'm in an unusual situation I guess. I had egg retrieval in July, did PGS, and froze all blasts. Did not do a fresh transfer. Husband and I went on an international trip a month after, so I purposefully delayed FET. Biggest shock of my life, we conceived on our own the cycle right after egg retrieval. My OB (knowing that we didn't do PGS) didn't even offer NT or NIPT at my first trimester, and she offered AFP my second trimester because she thinks it's kind of routine. So I think it really depends. You probably don't need those screens after PGS I think. But some may want to make sure just in case.

cashewchicken · November 2017

@nmtay I did all of the tests despite transferring a PGS-tested embryo. The main reason why the clinic suggested was that I'm old (39!) and PGS is never 100% right. I consented to additional tests also to rule out any human error (by PGS lab and my fertility clinic). My state (California) offers prenatal screenings to all pregnant patients, so depending on where you live, you may be recommended to do more tests. Finally, my hospital being one of the largest research and teaching hospital in the state may have something to do with being offered additional tests. Though the inconclusive results and iffy results sucked the fun out of two months of pregnancy, I'm glad I had them done. Another upside to doing these screenings is that if they find that your baby is at increased risk of having a chromosomal disorder, additional tests such as NIPT, amniocentesis, CVS and ultrasound are covered by the state and or insurance.

Thanks for your advice regarding the maternity clothing! It's so true that getting the fit right around the shoulders is important. A few years back I had a thyroid problem that resulted in weight gain just around my torso (mostly belly and my back). My shoulders remained narrow. I couldn't simply size up in clothes because the clothes would fit me funny! Now that I'm pregnant, I'm running into a similar problem where only my belly is big... I'm stick thin everywhere else. Being short and skinny, I'm afraid I won't fit into maternity clothes because I'm too small for even the smallest size. I bought a few maternity dresses so let's see how they fit. I also bought a few A-line dresses that kinda fit like a tent that aren't maternity dresses.

@helloworld9 Your OB probably offered AFP test to check for spina bifida which isn't caused by a chromosomal defect. Though you can check for spina bifida during anatomy scan, so you probably don't need that test either...

nmtay · November 2017

@helloworld9 and @cashewchicken ok that makes sense! We had our anatomy scan today and the doctor said everything looked perfect, so between that and PGS, they didn't recommend further testing. They said I could for extra peace of mind, so I probably would if I was older as well!

Also @cashewchicken something that would be worth trying is maternity (or just longer, dpending on how big you get) tanks and pairing them with cardigans and blazers. I mentioned the second part already, but the nice thing about tanks and camis is that there are no shoulders to be too big for you! The straps frequently fit funny but it's winter so you want them covered anyway!

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2nd trimester check in for the week of November 20th

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