Twenty-three weeks and five days! We definitely have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Everything has been going well. Doctor's appointments and ultrasounds have all been good, including an extra visit we had a couple weeks ago. After a particularly active weekend for baby, he was quieter Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning. I was still feeling him move around, but not as frequently, and Dr W keeps saying to call if anything seems different at all, so I called to check. I thought the nurse would just say that as along as I was feeling him not to worry, but Dr W wanted me to come in just to check that everything was going ok. The NP did a quick ultrasound and said everything was fine. And since then he's been a busy boy. I think he was just tired from his busy weekend!
The milestone of 22/23 weeks has been a... weird one. Most people wouldn't consider it a milestone at all, and wouldn't even know why it might be one. But most preemie mamas probably do. Twenty-two weeks is the earliest that a baby can possibly survive outside the womb. Not all hospitals or doctors will give them a chance that early, but some will, if the baby shows the will. I don't want to be a part of the population that considers this a milestone. I tried not to think about it, and I knew my husband wouldn't want to hear about it, but here we are. This is our life, and knowing our baby is potentially "viable" outside the womb is some weird, small comfort, even if we don't want to acknowledge it. Of course we're praying every day that this pregnancy will be a full-term, healthy pregnancy, but the reality is that, from here on out, our baby boy's chances get better with every passing day.
Other than that, we're just riding along, counting the weeks. My blood pressure has been nice and low, and my belly has been growing. My worries, for the most part, have been pretty calm, and some of them even normal for a typical pregnancy! For example, what to do with M when baby makes his debut. Of course, all my worrying now doesn't matter, because I still don't know whether I'll need a scheduled c-section (I'm not sure whether the type of c-section I had last time will allow for a VBAC), if I'll go into labor on my own, or whether I'll have to have a c-section because I don't go into labor on my own. My doctor won't induce labor with a VBAC, so if it doesn't happen on it's own, it will result in a c-section. And that's all assuming we make it to term! So I'm trying to put off worrying, and just know that we have plenty of people who love M and are capable of taking care of her. At least that's something any second time mom might be worrying about! The other challenge has been, since 20 weeks, Dr W wants me to "take it easy" when I get home from work. I'm supposed to have time every day when I sit with my feet up and said that I should maybe be starting to feel a little frustrated at how much I'm on the couch, so as a family we're working on finding that balance. It's definitely a challenge, with a two-year old and a full time job, but we're working it out! So we continue with prayers and positive thoughts, and hope for the best!
