Friday:

Phew!  It’s been a busy three weeks. We announced our pregnancy to the family last weekend. That was a relief.  

I’m feeling movement more frequently now. Not strong enough to feel on the outside yet but he’s been moving around quite a bit 🙂 The boys love kissing my belly and Lincoln has started to speak up for baby brother. Oh yeah. The other morning, around 10:30 or so, he said to me, “The baby wants Taco Bell” I said, “oh really?!” So we went to Taco Bell for lunch. 

As far as how I’m feeling. I’m feeling pretty good. I’ve been stretching daily and getting back into a regular exercise routine. Mainly walking. I want to keep healthy but not overdo it. Sometimes I feel pressure underneath my belly but I think that’s normal. All my tests and sonograms have been good. I had bloodwork a couple of weeks ago, to check my Lupus, and per the results, it looks like I don’t even have it anymore. I know I still do but that’s good that it’s not active right now. Good for the baby.  Next Friday we have the 20-week anatomy scan. Thank God. We’ll have the chance to see him again and the doctor will make sure he’s developing properly. Particularly his heart development and function. I’ve been taking low-dose aspirin every night so hopefully, it’s doing what it’s supposed to. 

Having Lupus presents so many possible complications with pregnancy. “About 10 to 20 percent of lupus pregnancies end in unexpected miscarriages or stillbirths. This rate is higher than average.” (https://www.verywellhealth.com/lupus-and-miscarriage-2249978) So while I’m thankful we’ve made it to the halfway mark, I know we are not out of the clear yet and I will need to continue with close observations and additional doctors’ appointments. I won’t feel “okay” until he is here. 

Saturday:

We had our 20-week anatomy scan today. I was a little nervous going in. I really had no reason TO be nervous. All of my test results have been good and I’ve been feeling movement but I think the unknown was making me nervous. The sonographer took about an hour to get the images needed. Baby Beau (his nickname) was moving around A LOT making it difficult to capture the best images. Maybe it had something to do with that 8oz coffee I had this morning,  Occasionally I’ll have a decaf coffee but the local coffee shop only had regular and I was craving coffee. Just regular black coffee. So that’s what I had.

Anyhow, everything looked good. He measured 13oz which is on the bigger size for how far along I am but the doctor said that is okay and it isn’t anything to worry about. It would be concerning if he were underweight. So you know, children born to women with SLE (what I have) have an increased risk of CHD (Congenital Heart Defects), and an increased risk of having a CHD repair procedure, as well. Today’s scan showed that one of the valves in Beau’s heart looks a little restricted but the percentage of how the heart is working in its entirety is good so nothing to worry about we were told. I’m not sure if I got that exactly right but the overall message is he’s fine. But you know I hear that and now I’m trying to figure out if there is anything specific that I can eat to make to improve his heart health. Sigh. On a side note, I think I’m coming down with a cold. I’m about to have some hot tea and call it a night. 

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/circulationaha.114.010027

#BeauBrad