Half way there!

As of yesterday we are 21 weeks pregnant. That means I'm about half way there! The past week or so has had some ups and downs concerning the pregnancy/baby. Last week we had our ultrasound and doctor appointment, which Tanner shared about. It was so exciting to see our little baby actually moving around and being a little human. As Tanner reported, we found out I have placenta previa. The way they made it sound (and therefore the way Tanner described it in our blog) it wasn't a big deal, and simply meant I would likely need a c-section. We lived with that reality for only a day, until the doctor called me the next day to review the ultrasound results. She was a bit more alarmed about this condition and put me on "pelvic rest" which is exactly what it sounds like. I'm not allowed to do any lifting "generally around 15 pounds or anything that uses your pelvic muscles" is how she described it. To put it in perspective, I can't pick up my dogs at the same time. It also means no sex. The concern is that the placenta would detach, which would obviously be fatal. I will continue with these precautions until early/mid December when we will have a second ultrasound to determine if I still have the condition. After that, we may find out it fixed itself and then the risk factors basically go away. If we find out I still have it and/or it's gotten worse, many more risks/concerns come in to play.

I also reported to my doctor last week that my heart rate has been generally very high (my blood pressure is perfect). She recommended I greatly increase the iron in my food for a few days. After choking down a bunch of red meat last week, it didn't help. So on Friday I was sent in for a holtar monitor. Basically they stuck 5 patches to me and hooked them up to a portable monitor for 24 hours. I was to log my activity during those hours. We are now waiting on those results. It's difficult and concerning because I'm not supposed to let my heart rate get above 140 even if I'm exercising. But even this morning, I was just standing in the bathroom, blow drying my hair (like I do every morning) and my heart rate went up to 145. Hopefully we'll find out what's going on soon!

Besides all of this concerning news, we had a glimmer of exciting last night. When laying in bed, I put Tanner's hand on my belly and we waited. We're pretty sure he could feel the baby move a couple of times! He said it wasn't what he expected, much lighter and didn't feel like a body part. Tonight I'm going to have some caffeine and we'll try again. Last night I also brought home from YPN some fetal models. They are silicon (i think) forms of a fetus at various stages of pregnancy, 10, 15, 20 & 30 weeks, representing the actual size and weight. It was so cool to hold the 20 week model and imagining it being comparable to our little baby! We realized that the 8x10 ultrasound picture we had in our living room was the exact same size as the 20 weeks fetus.