19 Weeks (again?) and a Beautiful Baby Girl!!!

How far along? 19 weeks - part 2! Here's the story: We went through a VERY stressful week between our first doctor visit and this second visit, because my quad screen blood work that I got done on Halloween came back abnormal. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's an optional test (that I NEVER should have opted to do!) that detects levels of different proteins and substances in your blood and CAN detect some birth defects. Well, my abnormal results basically meant that our baby was at a higher risk for Down Syndrome - 1 in 50, compared to 1 in almost 1,000 based on my age and family history alone. There was a lot of crying, stressing out, and obsessive research done (Can you say hormones??), and we ultimately decided to wait to agree to any further testing until our second appointment when they would do the full anatomy scan of the baby and look for other indications of abnormalities. After our second (and much more thorough) ultrasound, a specialist reviewed the pictures of the baby and where I was measuring, and told us we had the wrong due date ... which can significantly throw off the results of the blood work. He said we have a beautiful, healthy baby with no other red flags coming up on the scan :) Talk about some thankful, relieved parents! They reran my blood work with the new dates, and called to let me know that everything is checking out normal now. Baby Nielson is due April 7th instead of March 28th, which puts us about a week and a half behind where we thought we were. Word of advice to future pregnant ladies - don't get the quad screen! Nothin' but unnecessary worrying and stressing about your baby, who is more than likely perfectly healthy.

Symptoms? Frequent bathroom visits, slight cramping/minor abdominal aches, rapidly growing belly
Total weight gain/loss: Up 9 lbs. total ... 142
Maternity clothes? Yes! Thanks to my sweet friend Katie for sending along some of her cute maternity clothes and gender neutral baby clothes that her son Nathan was done with :) I've given in to the maternity jeans, and I may never go back. Sooo comfy.
Food cravings: Chipotle burrito bowls, Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, wheat toast with peanut butter, veggie burgers (which I actually prefer to a lot of meat right now) orange juice, Oreos, edamame, Greek yogurt, vanilla ice cream (only kind of ice cream I've wanted since I got pregnant ... weird, huh?)
Anything making you queasy or sick: Still don't wanna eat fish, but all other aversions are pretty much gone.
Stretch marks? Nope :)
Sleep: Sleeping great, except for nights when I have to get up to use the bathroom constantly.
Best moment this week: Finding out that Baby Nielson is a GIRL!!! :) And seeing her adorable face/profile for the first time! :) :) AND finding out that she's healthy and beautiful! :) :) :)

 

Have you told family and friends: Yep!
Miss Anything? Drinking on nights out and on football Sundays, lunchmeat, my "skinny jeans", sushi, being comfortable most of the time
Movement: Flutters, kicks, & rolls galore!
Have you started to show yet: It's a good-sized little bump ...

Gender prediction: No more predicting, and no more saying "it" - it's a she! 

Labor Signs: None
Belly Button in or out? Innie
Wedding rings on or off? Both rings are comfortably on.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!!!
Baby Stuff Purchased? Now that we know the gender, I bought Baby Girl her very first new clothes - four adorable NB-sized onesies! This is just the beginning ...  
Looking forward to: Planning her nursery, figuring out a name, and registering for baby stuff ... to name a few things :)

18 & 19 Weeks - Halloween, Election Day, & Ultrasounds

How far along? 19 weeks
Symptoms? Headaches, frequent bathroom visits, and a MUCH bigger belly - wowza!!
Total weight gain/loss: Up 7 lbs. total ... 140.
Maternity clothes? Started wearing my belly bands (Steve bought me a black one and a white one) with a couple of my snugger pairs of jeans ... nothing compares to my yoga pants, though! I need to try those Pajama Jeans ... anyone know if those are comfy for pregnant women? :)
Food cravings: Chipotle burrito bowls, Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, wheat toast with peanut butter, oranges, Honeycrisp apples, and no, I still cannot stop indulging in Oreos. One vice when you're pregnant isn't too bad, right?
Anything making you queasy or sick: Still don't wanna eat fish, but all other aversions are pretty much gone - yeah!
Stretch marks? Nope :)
Sleep: Sleeping great, when I'm not having weird pregnancy nightmares that make me talk in my sleep and wake up my husband. And I mean WEIRD ... I should start keeping a journal by the bed.
Best moment this week: Easy - seeing Baby Nielson for the very first time at our OB appointment on Halloween!!!

 
It was a truly amazing moment, although the gender is still a mystery ... sweet Baby was face down, curled up, legs crossed. Hoping to find out at our 20-week ultrasound on Thursday! (We'll post some of the 20-week US pics on the next blog update ... we only got a back/back-of-the-head shot, and one of the arms and legs this time.)
Have you told family and friends: Yep!
Miss Anything? Beer/margaritas/wine/alcohol, lunchmeat, my "skinny jeans", and stepping on the scale and hoping for a LOW number rather than a high one ... so strange!
Movement: Flutters, kicks, & rolls
Have you started to show yet: Woah yeah!

Gender prediction: I still say boy, even though Steve is more convinced than ever that it is a girl ... "There was no little white triangle on the ultrasound!" We also didn't get a good enough view to tell ... *sigh* :)
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button in or out? Innie
Wedding rings on or off? Both rings are comfortably on.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy with a side of SUPER moody this weekend ... ugh.
Baby Stuff Purchased? None this week
Looking forward to: Our 20-week ultrasound on Thursday, when we'll get to see our little melon/heirloom tomato again, in more detail, and hopefully really find out the gender this time!