Ultrasound from my NT scan

Here is my sweet little baby!

Of course, the ultrasound tech refused to even look for the gender, but I am just happy to know that he or she is in there, alive, and growing bigger! There were 2 arms & 2 legs and my nuchal fold measurement was in the normal range! We even got to see the baby having the hiccups and spitting, or what looked like spitting! It was amazing and such a miracle to see this tiny baby living inside me!

13 Weeks

Well, not much to report about this week. I have had a few days where I felt like I needed to throw up and really wished I would have just to get some relief, but for the most part, I feel pretty normal and not really pregnant at all!

I have had a few instances where I am fairly positive that I felt my tiny baby moving or rolling. I think it was unmistakably baby and not gas! I can't wait to feel him/her moving throughout the day and know my baby is alive and well!

I have an appointment in 2 days with my high risk OB, Dr Thorpe. This is for a Nuchal Translucency Screening Test. It consists of a blood test and ultrasound. It is used to determine whether you are at risk of having a baby with a chromosomal abnormality, such as Down Syndrome, trisomy 13 or trisomy 18. I can't wait to see my baby actually looking like a baby! I am also curious as to what the baby will measure, as it measured 7 days behind where it should be based on my last period. Hopefully my tiny tike has miraculously caught up!

I was hoping that they could also give me an answer to the gender of our little angel. I know it will be too early to tell, but I am still hoping!

I will post pictures from the ultrasound on Thursday!!

12 week checkup!

Here is a quick ultrasound I got on my doctor's dinosaur machine...

I went in for my regular checkup and the nurse tried to listen to the heartbeat with the doppler. She couldn't hear it and said those famous last words, "I'm sure the doctor can come in and hear it right away." I told her that I've heard that before and I miscarried last time they told me that. The doctor came in with the doppler and tried....and tried...she couldn't hear it either. So, I was sure I had miscarried again.

She took me back to do a quick ultrasound to see if she could see a heartbeat. When she put the probe on me, there was a little human in there and I didn't see it moving, then all of a sudden it jumped and started flapping its arms. She says to me, "Well, they don't move without a heartbeat!" I started crying like a crazy fool. All I have seen up until now has been a blob of nothingness with a heartbeat.... This was a REAL BABY this time! With an alien face, flapping arms, and its legs crossed, just relaxing after a round of what looked like jumping jacks! I was so relieved and so thankful to our Gracious God for this baby inside me!

12 Weeks- WOO HOO!

Today marks 12 weeks of pregnancy for me. It seems just like yesterday that I took a pregnancy test. I hope this is a sign of the next 28 weeks to come and go so fast! Nothing eventful has happened this week. I still feel normal and not as nauscious as the past 2 weeks, so that is a wonderful thing!

We took the boys to a corn maze last weekend and it was so HOT that it made it pretty misrible, but they loved it anyway. I didn't really think we would ever find the exit but we finally did- it felt like a victory!On another note, my baby sister is pregnant also with her second child. She is 7 weeks along so she is about 5 weeks behind me. I hate that we live so far apart from each other! She is also hoping for a girl this time and is mad about the name I have chosen if I have a girl...Elizabeth Grace (aka Lizzy Grace :), because she wants to name her baby (if it happens to be a girl), Grace Kelly and she thinks they are too similar. So, here was my solution to the problem....Get over it cause my baby's gonna be born first! Hahaha... The joys of being a big sister! The names have significance because our mother, who passed away 4 and a half years ago was named Kelly Elizabeth and our grandmother who passed away about 9 years ago was named Grace. I chose Elizabeth Grace because I loved how sweet it sounds and it just seemed fitting for me to remember my mother and grandmother. Elizabeth means "consecrated to god," or "God's promise," and as for Grace, in high school, my English teacher gave us "Grace Days." She said these were something you were given that you didn't deserve.

Going to my regular OB today for my monthy checkup. Hopefully I'll be able to hear my little turkey's heart beat for the first time today!

11 Weeks!

Well, I waited so impatiently for 11 weeks to come so I could take my Intelligender Gender Predictor. Here is the result I got:

So...according to this, it's gonna be a GIRL! Of course, I was hoping it would say this but I'm taking it with a grain of salt and trying not to get too excited! It was fun and now I just have to wait to see if it is right.

Now to recall everything I said about not being sick during this pregnancy....week 10 hits and the bottom drops out! I haven't actually thrown up but been pretty nauscious or it may be better explained as "sour stomach." At least I'm not yacking my guts up, just feeling like I might...

On another note, I've always heard that the more times you have been pregnant, the sooner you can feel your baby move. Call me crazy, but I've felt this baby move. I know it is supposed to only be 1.5"-2.5" long, but I swore I felt shim yesterday and then again this morning. Who knows.... I know with the baby I miscarried at 17 weeks, I felt him moving at 12 weeks. I've read online that it's possible, so who knows...

My regular OB appointment is next Tuesday, I should be 12 weeks! Woo Hoo...Good Bye 1st Trimester!

Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

10 weeks!

Remembering my little blessings today the ones here with me and the ones I have yet to hold... I am so excited for this new tiny angel to grow inside me. I can't wait for him or her to join our family in a few months. I am so grateful that I am so easily able to get pregnant while others try for years and never get a child of their own. I don't even try at all and this is my 5th pregnancy! Not that anything other than conception comes easily for me!



"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."
Psalm 139: 13-16



Last night I hardly slept at all due to the sore bruises I have all over my stomach. I couldn't sleep on either side and definately not on my back because I can't breathe from the pressure on my arteries back there. It was a pretty misrible night but it is just the beginning to my journey and I'm sure it will get better soon.

Compound Heterozygote MTHFR

What Is MTHFR?
MTHFR (5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase – what a mouthful…) is a specific gene found on a specific chromosome within every cell in every person The MTHFR gene produces an enzyme responsible for a multi-step process that converts the amino acid homocysteine to another amino acid, methionine. The body uses methionine to make proteins and other important compounds.

What is a MTHFR Mutation?
An abnormal change in gene structure, called a mutation, of the MTHFR gene can cause a disruption of the MTHFR enzyme’s normal function of breaking down homocysteine.
The two common MTHFR gene mutations occur at specific locations called “positions” along the gene. The one we generally test for is located at position 677. At this location, one amino acid base pair is different, in that Cytosine is replaced by Thymine. This mutation is thus called C677T. Another mutation we test for occurs at position 1298. At this location, Adenine is replaced by Cytosine and is therefore called A1298C.

MTHFR mutations are common. The mutations can be “heterozygous” meaning they occur only on one strand or “allele” of the chromosome, or they can be “homozygous”, occurring on both alleles. The frequency of a heterozygous C677T mutation is common, occurring in about 35% of the population. The homozygous C677T mutation is about 5-10% of the population. A mutation in A1298T is more common but is generally less problematic. The homozygous variety of A1298T occurs in 9% of the population. Another mutation involves both the C677T and the A1298T alleles. This is a “compound heterozygous” condition that occurs in approximately 17% of the population.

How Does MTHFR affect Pregnancy?
If the MTHFR gene is malfunctioning, homocysteine can build up and cause problems, both in the cardiovascular system, but also with pregnancy. At this time, we’ll confine this discussion to the impact on pregnancy.

Some MTHFR mutations are more serious than others as far as their ability to cause problems during pregnancy. Specifically, women who have multiple pregnancy losses are more likely to have a MTHFR gene mutation.

The association of MTHFR and recurrent pregnancy loss is under great debate. Some clinicians and researchers feel that the mutations can cause blood clots between the developing placenta and uterine wall, thus preventing transport of vital nutrition to the developing fetus. This usually occurs early in pregnancy when the embryo or fetus is most vulnerable.

It is unlikely that the exact mechanism of how MTHFR affects pregnancy loss will be worked out in the near future. As a result, women and clinicians need to understand that there is no set “standard of care” protocol for dealing with recurrent miscarriage in the presence of a MTHFR mutation.

9 Week Ultrasound

So, I had my first appointment with our high risk perinatologist yesterday. The baby looked fine, was in there and moving around. He/She had a heart rate of 183. We did not get any clear pictures because I had an empty bladder and I also have a funky uterus which makes it difficult to see anything. Not to mention, the shoving the doppler into the flesh of my c-section scar makes me want to die!


Here is the best of what we did get:

Looks like a turkey to me! I should have been 9 weeks and 1 day but the baby measured 8 weeks and 1 day.

I have to go back in 4 weeks for some further testing for genetic abnormalities such as spina bifida, down syndrome, and cleft palate type things. They said it would consist of an ultrasound and blood work. And, apparently the MTHFR mutation I have causes me to be at greater risk for these birth defects- especially since I was not taking folic acid 3 months before I got pregnant. I wasn't taking it because I wasn't trying to get pregnant. However, I'm now on 10 times the normal recommended dosage which they told me now brings me to the level a normal person would have- absurd, huh?

So, in my consultation yesterday, Dr. Thorpe tells me that he doesn't think my MTHFR mutation is the cause of my losses. He said that he thinks there is something else going on but they just haven't found it yet. Considering all of my health issues over the last year and a half, this makes complete sense that I have some weird problem that no one can find...I feel like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle with all of my mutations!

Now, for anyone wanting info on the MTHFR mutation, I will post some brief things that I have learned in a new post.

Just think, my baby will look like a REAL BABY in the next ultrasound and not a turkey!