Week 24

Week 24

How far along? 24 weeks (6 months pregnant!!)

How are you feeling? My ankles and calves are killing me. We did some heavy duty cleaning yesterday (we donated a TON of clothes to Goodwill and basically an entire house of furniture to a church). I think walking on the hardwood all day really put a strain on my legs. Taking it super easy today.

Baby is the size of a(n): Ear of corn. He is just under a foot long and a little over a pound.

Cravings: Nothing 

Aversions: Smells.

Testing/appts this week? I have a normal Ob appointment either this week or next week. I don't remember at this very second. My pregnancy brain has gotten pretty bad. Haha!

Milestones: 24 weeks is known as Viability Week. This means, starting this week, if God forbid something were to happen and I needed to deliver early, the hospital would take the baby to the NICU. Before 24 weeks, chances of survival for a fetus is about 17%. Once you reach 24 weeks, it rises to 40%. Once you reach 27 weeks, it rises to 90%. This is an important milestone to reach in a pregnancy, especially high-risk. Our baby boy is doing so well!

Levels came back

My Lamotrigine trough levels came back today. They came in at 3.4. Gary said that Dr. L was happy with that number and that she didn't see a reason to make any changes again to that dosage.

That's definitely a relief.

I also asked about the possibility of breastfeeding while taking my medication. It's a topic on my mind since we are going to our birthing class and that's a big topic that is discussed (the instructor actually emailed me about it since it said on my intro paper that we weren't planning to breastfeed because of my medication. We will discuss that discussion later though - possibly).

Dr. L said that even though the medication is secreted in breast milk, she believes that me breastfeeding will be alright. I even had her double check and she said she found an article in American Epilepsy Guidelines for pregnancy and breastfeeding that says that enough isn't secreted in breast milk for it to be dangerous to the baby.

The plan is, if I want to breastfeed, to keep my folic acid high while nursing. After nursing is over, I probably will be brought back down to 1mg. Or maybe not, depending on what they move my medication levels too after birth.

I don't think (well, I know) I wouldn't exclusively breastfeed. I would keep it to a couple feedings a day and the rest would be formula. It would be just enough to give baby boy the nutrients he needs for a few months before switching to solely formula and then introducing solids. 

I'm still unsure how I feel about this. We will talk about and decide before he gets here, but it is nice to know that it is an option for us.

Swollen Ankles

Swollen ankles comes with the territory of pregnancy. However, I never realized how consistent or painful it would be.

I elevate my feet constantly. I've had Dave rub my ankles. I think I'm going to resort to ice packs tonight. Even with all the elevation, they are still swollen and good lord, they hurt.

Now, my feet aren't swollen enough for me to worry about anything greater happening, but it is just enough that I notice it.

I keep repeating that I know my pain is temporary and at the end of all of this, I get a beautiful baby boy. It is so worth it. It's just hard.

I'll quit my whining now. I have to get ready to go to work.

Birthing Class Tonight!

Dave and I are starting our birthing class tonight. I'm a little nervous. It feels so early to be doing this but it will be 6 months pregnant on Sunday. (How on earth did that happen?)

It's through the hospital where I will be delivering. I'm glad we are doing it. It will definitely help us in the long and hopefully improve my labor when the time comes. We also plan on registering for the infant CPR class but that doesn't start until November.

This class will cover everything from breathing techniques during labor to infant care. 

Il update about how it goes. I can't believe we are already close enough to be doing this.

Week 23

Week 23

How far along? 23 weeks

How are you feeling? Sleepy. I need more coffee.

Baby is the size of a(n): Large mango! He's 11 inches tall and a little over a pound. Big boy!

Cravings: Nothing 

Aversions: Eh, not much.

Testing/appts this week? Got my blood drawn for my Lamictal level today. Hopefully, I'll hear the results of that in a couple of days. I feel much better now that they lowered the dose. 

Milestones: I can't think of any right now.

Post-Weeklong Migraine

Okay, I think I'm finally back on my feet enough to discuss the last week. 

Starting on Saturday night, I was getting a lot of auras and searing pain coarsing through my head. It felt like someone was nailing a spike from the top of my head through to my neck. It truly was crippling.

My doctor prescribed me Fioricet and I took that to try and ease the pain since Tylenol wasn't even touching the pain. The Fioricet ended up only taking the edge off and I felt trapped. I was getting absolutely no relief. I actually slept through most of Sunday in order to try and catch up on sleep, thinking that could be the culprit.

Even with the extra sleep, I was finding that nothing worked. I ended up taking Monday off from work (which I was actually pretty upset about). I never take off unexpectedly from work unless it is an emergency, but I couldn't even see to drive. 

After numerous phone falls to my neurologist, Ob and MFM, they've decided that moving forward throughout my pregnancy, they want me to take Demerol for headaches like these since it more than likely will happen again as baby boy gets bigger. It is safe for baby and I will be taking an extremely small dose (it is some powerful stuff).

Here's to feeling better!

Week 22

Week 22

How far along? 22 weeks

How are you feeling? Miserable. I spoke way too soon about the headaches. Since late last night I've been battling a pretty severe headache accompanied by nausea. This is different from my other migraines though cause I'm not blacking out. But, I feel terrible.

Baby is the size of a(n): Spaghetti squash

Cravings: Nothing 

Aversions: Right now, everything.

Testing/appts this week? Just need to get my blood drawn for my Lamictal trough levels.

Milestones: My belly button is currently fighting for its life.

Neurology appt

I went to go see Dr. L today for my mid-pregnancy appointment. The discussion of the appointment was supposed to be about my seizures, how I was feeling, etc. instead, we talked about the migraines that I've been getting.

She asked me again to explain all of my symptoms and then did something that a neuro never has before with me. She reached to the back of my neck and looked for "tight spots." She found one area and said it is a result of my frequent headaches and that what I've been experiencing are complex migraines.

She also checked my eyes for the onset of preclampsia. I guess the frequency of the headaches can raise my blood pressure somehow and put me at risk. However, she said the back of my eyes show no signs of it developing.

She suggested that if the migraines continue at this severity to call her and come back in. She also wants to see me a month after I give birth to put me on a schedule to decrease my medication back down to the original dosage.

However, everything else looks good. She was glad to hear how active the baby was and that I haven't had any episodes except for my headaches. 

Week 21

Week 21

How far along? 21 weeks

How are you feeling? Better finally. I was having wicked migraines for the longest time. 

Baby is the size of a(n): Carrot.

Cravings: The other day I wanted peaches... We are a little late in the season for that though :(

Aversions: Smells. A package delivery guy came in and his cologne seriously made me feel like I was going to throw up everywhere. Eww.

Testing/appts this week? Neuro appt with Dr. L on Wednesday morning. After changing the dosage of my meds, I can already tell that I feel better. My body didn't like having all that medication at once.

Milestones: No real milestones this week.

New instruction

I started my adjusted dosage of Lamotrigine ER today. Until further notice I'm taking:

AM: 200mg of Lamotrigine ER

PM: 250mg of Lamotrigine ER

Total: 450mg; 50mg less than I was taking before.

I have my appointment on Wednesfay with Dr. L, so I'm sure we will discuss this further then. I'll update then.

Headaches

I've had migraines my entire life. 

They start out with flashing auras (always in my left eye) and minutes later, I have a blinding headache that distorts my vision and later that day I will have forgotten everything that happened during the time of the headache. I'm usually nauseous too.

Since we have upped my Lamotrigine ER, I've been having migraines pretty consistently. Just about once a week for the past 5 weeks. In fact, I had a horrible one on Wednesday. The day is completely lost and disjointed to me. I started to get auras today and immediately called my neurologist's office. 

They said they think they raised my medication too quickly, so they are reducing it by 50mg to try and take the edge off. The nurse said that the doctor thinks the memory loss is from my consistent change in hormones due to pregnancy. I told them that this happens with non-pregnancy migraines too, just not as bad. They assured me this is normal for complex migraines and the hormones from pregnancy is just amplifying everything.

Complex migraines frequently are associated with people who suffer from complex seizures (me). The triggers for each are in a similar part of the brain. 

It feels good to know there is an explanation and that something bigger isn't going on. I'm in great hands with this office. The care that I've received with this hospital network hasn't been anything less than awesome.

Side note: Baby boy must know something's up because he has been kicking me pretty much 12 times every 3 minutes since around 9am. We have an active one on our hands. :) I'm going with that he knows we are going to the Penn State game tomorrow, haha

Week 20

Week 20

How far along? 20 weeks (OMG, I'm halfway!)

How are you feeling? Over the moon! We are so excited that we will be welcoming a little boy in January!! Physically, it has been a rough week though. I'm tired and sore.

Baby is the size of a(n): Banana. According to our scan, he is 10 oz and 6.5 inches long crown to rump (they couldn't get that crown to heel measurement).

Cravings: Last night, I really wanted soft serve with sprinkles, but I'm trying to take a step back from sweets. I'm trying to eat more fruit.

Aversions: I can't even think about going near the break room at work. The smell in there is too overwhelming (Same as last week). Also, the smell of hot wing sauce.

Testing/appts this week? I have a normal Ob appt on Tuesday. 

Milestones: Baby boy has been kicking up a storm! I felt my first real unmistakable kick Thursday night while lying in bed. Since then, he's been so active! He really likes to kick mommy in the groin. Haha! I think it is safe to say that baby boy likes Penn State football though. We went to the game yesterday and during the 3rd quarter, I became a punching bag :) 

I never could have imagined that his kicks would be this strong this fast. It's like he wants me to know he's there. This miracle is going to be active. He's probably going to be born by running out instead of pushing. :)

Anatomy Scan Results

Baby Mory: 19 weeks 5 days:

Our level 2/anatomy scan went awesome on Friday. It is truly amazing how much you can see on ultrasounds now. It is so detailed and comforting to see your little one looking so happy and healthy :) 

I had a few friends insist that I drink orange juice before we went in (as a person with GERD, this was daring. My acid reflux kicked in almost immediately) because it would make the baby more active and they could get a better view of everything. Well... the baby was definitely moving! In fact, Baby Mory kept rotating and doing flips. It actually became hard for the tech to get measurement because our little one wouldn't stay still (something tells me, this is a look into the future).

Everything looks great though. They showed us all the divisions of the brain and that they looked like they were forming normally, all the chambers of the heart, blood flow to and from organs, and so much more. It was amazing to see! They also checked me out, looking to see what was going on with my SCHs. Thankfully, they are completely gone. There's not even scarring. I'm very relieved :)

Baby is 10oz and 6.5 inches big with a strong heart beat of 150!

We are so happy to report that we are expecting a BOY! I'll admit, I definitely was shocked. We were so positive we were having a girl. But immediately visions of sporting events, trucks and dinosaurs filled my head. Our baby boy is doing wonderfully in there and I can't wait to have him in our arms.

This has become so real. We are becoming a family. I am feeling so happy and so blessed right now.