Niblet update.

[rivka]

I'm 17 weeks pregnant today. According to babycenter.com, the Niblet is about the size of a turnip and its cartilage is starting to harden into bone.

Assuming, um, that NBHHY. I had some more spotting over the weekend, on Friday and Saturday - each time, a few drops of bright red blood. I called the midwife, who pretty much said that this is the new normal for me with this pregnancy and that I need to try not to worry about bleeding unless it's a steady flow and/or it's accompanied by rhythmic cramping.

Of course, if I wait to worry until then, it's too late - right? Whereas worrying earlier on, as we all know, is tremendously productive.

I spent Friday night and Saturday feeling doomed. I don't know, I still feel a little doomed even though my rational mind tells me that if I were to start miscarrying at a rate of three drops of blood per day I would make it all the way to my due date and be fine. But I just... yeah. I can't take this stress. And just to twist the knife a little more, I know that prenatal exposure to stress hormones isn't the best thing in the world for the Niblet.

It would really help if either (a) I stopped being able to fit into my prepregnancy jeans, or (b) I felt fetal movement. So far that's a no on either one. I'm starting to have a little bit more of a pregnant shape (beyond the Rack of Doom, I mean), and my belly feels more solid, but I haven't gained any weight and I haven't had to start wearing maternity pants. I thought subsequent pregnancies were supposed to show earlier.

Seventeen weeks is kind of early for quickening, I guess. I remember going in for the anatomical ultrasound about this time in my pregnancy with Alex and being amazed to see all those vigorous flips and rolls that I couldn't feel at all. And with my placenta anterior, it makes even more sense that I can't feel anything. But still. It would be nice of the Niblet to oblige me.

At this point in my pregnancy with Alex I was in severe pain because my round ligaments - the rubber bands that hold up the burgeoning uterus - were attached to scar tissue and pulling at adhesions as my uterus grew. I wondered if there would be a recurrence of that pain, but the physical therapy I had to break up the adhesions seems to have fixed the problem entirely. Instead, I am experiencing normal round ligament pain for the first time. When I move suddenly - especially if I am, say, standing up from a chair and twisting to change position at the same time - I get shooting pains in my lower belly. So even though I'm not showing yet, my uterus is demanding to be treated as an entity that cannot be jerked around. By necessity, I am starting to move more like a pregnant woman.

Anatomical ultrasound is next week. I have a strong sense, based on nothing in particular, that the Niblet will be a boy. Possible names: Colin for a boy, or maybe Brennan; Avery or Anya for a girl. Randolph as the middle name in either case, after my father-in-law. I am steadfastly refusing to think of Randolph Fritz.

Comments

[eeyorerin]

I continue to cheer for Team Niblet and to hope that zie will make zir presence a bit more obvious to zir mama.

What lovely possible names. Will this child also share the last name that you and Alex share? (I know some parents who have alternated last names.)

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Probably he or she will have the other last name, but we haven't worked out all the details. I am somewhat of a fan of gendered surnames (boys get Papa's name, girls get Mama's), but then if you only have kids of one gender one parent doesn't pass on their name.

[geminigirl]

If it helps, I had anterior placenta with Naomi and didn't feel movement consistently until about 22 weeks-there were things that I felt that were kind of like "That might have been baby" but as a first timer, it was hard to say. What I wish someone had told me sooner is that I might continue to feel movement less consistently throughout, even late in pregnancy. It makes sense though-many of the movements are muffled by the placenta.

[riarambles.livejournal.com]

I was coming in here to say the same thing. I had an anterior placenta with M and didn't feel much movement the whole pregnancy (well, as far as I made it in the pregnancy).

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Another poster here with the same experience, although mine was actually my daughter's with the dear little lovey, her first. She felt so little movement that I was concerned until she told me the placenta was anterior. This should make your pregnancy a little more comfortable if also less dramatic, <.lj user="rivka"!

K.

[lydy.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear about Niblet. The spotting sounds dreadfully stressful, even if it is "normal to you." However, NBHHY. At 17 weeks, that's incredibly encouraging.

[bosssio.livejournal.com]

pregnancy jeans - I carried mainly internally with Anthony and mainly externally with Liam. Dunno why. The midwife for Anthony even commented on how the bulk of my belly was hidden.

I didn't really look pregnant with Anthony for a LONG time and I didn't need pregnancy pants until I was close to 7 months. I also wore a lot of dresses/skirts which felt better on my belly.

And also for us ladies with extra "padding" - if the padding is turning into baby (which accounts for not gaining weight), you are getting a net zero effect of size as well as weight.

I have heard of plus sized moms losing weight during pregnancy and being very healthy pregnancies - and they never had to buy any maternity clothing at all because the baby belly replaced belly fat.

Lovely names, btw.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

When I was pregnant with Alex, I lost seven pounds in the first trimester and then gained 15, for a net gain of eight pounds. And I still looked like I had a prize-winning watermelon under my shirt (here (http://rivka.livejournal.com/227335.html) and here (http://rivka.livejournal.com/240356.html)).

I really, really love the way I look when I'm visibly pregnant. I feel beautiful. All the internalized pressure about having to be thin and athletic to be attractive just melts away, and I love my body for what it is. So I'd better not wait until seven months to start showing!

[juthwara.livejournal.com]

bossio said pretty much everything I was going to - I didn't need any sort of maternity pants with K until 19 weeks, and even then, I just bought some pants a size up with elastic waistbands.

I hope Niblet makes itself known soon. Have you considered renting a doppler to allay some of the anxiety until you're feeling movement regularly?

[ratphooey.livejournal.com]

I love the name Colin!

I even like Randolph as a middle name.

It sounds like your uterus is good and pregnant, even if your brain is lagging behind!

I know how hard it is to relax into pregnancy after a scary situation. I'm not even sure I got there, 100%. But any % is better than none!

As for stress hormones, since my #2 came out absurdly happy and healthy despite all the work stress, life stress, and should-I-even-be-having-a-second-child angst I endured, young master Niblet will be just fine!

[ailbhe]

*holds own thumbs*

[fairoriana.livejournal.com]

That is nerve-wracking! Niblet should oblige you with some movement pretty soon. Here's hoping reassurance is headed your way!

[ex-serenejo.livejournal.com]

May nothing bad continue to happen. I hope that in this worry, you also have room for some squeeing, because, hey, exciting!

[windsea.livejournal.com]

Colin is an excellent name for a boy, IMNSHO ;-)

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Hee! I'm glad you don't mind sharing.

So, do other kids tease him by making jokes about the bowel? Or is that too anatomically sophisticated for the average bully?

[windsea.livejournal.com]

So far, none that I've heard of ... though god only knows what goes on in the hockey locker rooms =8-0.

Shared history

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Your last sentence there almost made me choke on my lunch. (-:

[papersky.livejournal.com]

Have you noticed that Avery and Anya start with A, and so does Alex?

This is sometimes not such a good idea. If you're giving them different surnames (which I also see problems with, honestly) this might not be so bad, but when Alex is sixteen she might not want mail for Ms A Whatever being opened by her little sister.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I did notice the same-letter thing, although I was more concerned about the cutesiness of having children's names start with the same letter. I am less concerned about the cutesiness issue given that all three names have a different "A" sound to them, so it's not like "Jennifer, Jill, and Jason," but I hadn't thought about a privacy/personal space issue. Hm.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah. Even without those privacy bits, it is very handy to be able to put initials on things and have them be unique.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

i suggest that whatever the kid's name is, you figure out what it is in russian, too. anya is easy in that respect; the others are trickier. um. yeah. yay for your body reminding you you're pregnant, even though it hurts!

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Russian? *blink*

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

rivka, misha, and sasha?

[redbird]

"Rivka" isn't Russian, it's Yiddish.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

ooh. good point. the set of russian women and the set of jewish women overlap, which is likely where i got confused.