Today we had our 18 week midwife appt. I am 18 weeks 4 days pregnant today.  Our baby had a heart beat of 155 again this week. It has been steady at 155 for a few weeks now.

We had a great appointment and I had a lot of questions and we recieved alot of information.

We talked about my latest tests. My genetic screens for down syndrome came back at 1 in 14000 and chances of trisomy’s was 1 in 1000 so very low.

We talked about my back injury and what is safe for pain comfort right now. I saw my doctor yesterday regarding a work injury to my back and my muscle pain. He prescribed flexeril a muscle relaxant but i am reluctant to take it as it would sedate the baby. But my midwife says that as long as its once in a while and not leading up to the birth it is safe so its up to my choice. I am going to try not to take it for as long as i can manage.

We also talked about the safety of this years flu shot. I have very mixed emotions. I feel that even though it has been given to pregnant women for years now and is deemed by safe canada i am reluctant do the fact that there is not enough research on later in life to babies who had it in utero. My midwife understands and her concerns are the amount of mercury. However as a fellow health care worker she understands that we are mandated to have a flu vaccine or wear a mask for our whole shifts, every shift for the duration of the cold and flu season. So ultimately it will depend on how long i will be able to continue to work. If I am only going to be there till november i may just wear a mask. But then i need to think about what the risks are if I actually get the flu. How it would effect my PHE levels and that would danger my baby. So after thinking about that I am leaning towards taking the shot.

We talked about my wishes regarding birth and finding out the gender. Originally I really wanted to know or atleast have it written down for a few select people who keep asking for it. But after thinking about it long and hard and talking it over with cole and with my medical team I am not ok with anyone knowing what my baby is before cole or I. So then I talked about what would happen if I end up sedated or have am emergency c section. I don’t want anyone waiting at the hospital in the waiting rooms as if I don’t wake up for a few hours I don’t want people seeing my baby or knowing the gender before me. Other than COle and the medical professionals I don’t want anyone holding my baby before me. I want to give birth naturally with pain measures for my disk injury. I want to be awake. I want skin to skin contact and be able to start breastfeeding right away. I worry because any time I have been put under it can take me up to 8 hours before I wake up. This would be an awful situation for me as I believe in skin to skin and starting bonding. So when the time comes I dont even want anyone to know we are at the hospital till its almost time. And I DO NOT want it announced on my facebook before I post it! If someone heard and posted a premature congratulations on my fb i would be so pissed. I want the experience to be private and intimate for Cole and I .

I always need to have a plan in place even if it is a tentative plan or an outline. I have made my wishes clear to my midwife and cole agrees with me too. So I feel a lot more comforted now. Now i am just nervous to tell everyone who has been bugging me to have the gender written down.

We also discussed cord banking or donation. I don’t have enough information to make a decision or understand enough about it so I have asked for more information. I am on the fence because I know it could help children with leukemia and I know a few little girls who are currently battling childhood cancers so if it could help them or benefit children and help them that I want to know more. If there is no proven benefits or reasons to then i might not.

We both agreed we want to take prenatal classes and I plan on going back to pre natal yoga in october. All my blood work is coming back great and my blood phe levels are great.

My dietician has ordered amino acid blend mix to add to my formula so I can go back to 5 bettermilk . the 6 is causing me to be constipated. My tolerance should start going up soon too and will have to also increase my calories again. My diet and weight are being closely monitored to help lessen the risk of gestational diabetes.

Next week my midwife center is hosting its montly meet up for new parents and I think i might go. It would be nice to meet other women who are currently pregnant as well.

I should start feeling baby soon too. Between now and 21 weeks is when fetal movement is expected to be noticeable. If my placenta is in the front it could take longer. I haven’t felt anything yet but am looking forward to it. It would be very reassuring instead of waiting for each appointment to hear the heart beat.

So that is our update for this appointment. 2nd trimester PKU blood profile October 5th,

Anatomy scan and echo  , with fetal specialist and 2nd PKU clinic visit october 13th

OBGYN appt October 15th

Next Mid wife appt October 20th.

Thank you for following along on our maternal journey so far! Will update again soon :)