12 weeks

I hit the 12 week mark yesterday. As of last Friday, Baby's heartrate was 160. (While boys typically range from 120-140, and girls from 140-160, my mom says my brother was 160, so there are no hard and fast rules.) Ruth's heartrate was 143 several weeks farther into the pregnancy (several moms have told me that heartrates gradually slow over the course of the pregnancy while others have reported a constant all the way through). I am still looking for records that tell me Joshua's rate.

I'm down 7 pounds from my starting weight, but still weigh a total of 2 pounds more than I did at 20 weeks with Ruth. Of course I started this pregnancy weighing 14 pounds more than I started Ruth's with, so that means by week 20 with her, I had already seen a net gain of 5 pounds. But my doctor said if I was 2 pounds less than I am now, another 8+ weeks farther into pregnancy, that I "have enough reserves" to keep this baby healthy so he's not stressing over my loss yet. With Joshua I was much sicker than I have been with either Ruth or this baby (I'm feeling plenty nauseous and gaggy, but thankfully not throwing up too frequently) and I lost 12 pounds right away with him, eventually gaining back 18 for a net gain of 6 pounds by his birthday.

I did not have an ultrasound on Friday, but am scheduled for a 3D one on Aug. 12. It will still be too early to find out boy/girl, but we will hopefully be able to get a couple of great pictures of this little munchkin for the scrapbook. The plan is for monthly ultrasound checks to continue watching growth. With elevated IgM levels, my highest risk time for loss is 2nd and 3rd trimesters, so we want to carefully watch for blood flow and growth to signal any needed changes in my blood thinners.

I've been weaning off progesterone and took my very last dose at bedtime Monday night. It feels like such a milestone to be to this point and still have a living baby inside. Praise the Lord!