Thus far…

I have not posted anything real personal about our family yet on this blog.  I have decided to share my pregnancy of our fifth baby with you(6th pregnancy).

Before I give you my story, let me explain some background information to help you understand my mindset with this pregnancy. 

We had a miscarriage between my fourth child and this pregnancy.  Up until then, I had never had a hard time getting pregnant or had any complications carrying my babies.  For some reason, with my fifth pregnancy the baby didn’t grow.  Something happened around 9 weeks.  We were absolutely devastated.  

We told ourselves that God felt that this baby was just too precious to give to us, so He kept him/her up with Him.  We grieved and we healed.  We decided it was time to try again.

Just a couple of weeks after we started trying for another baby, we found out that we were pregnant!  We were so excited!  But, I began to wonder if I should tell anyone considering the devastation we had experienced with our last pregnancy.  I was still worried about how my body would do with the current pregnancy.  In the end, we decided to tell our friends and family so that they could pray for us and be a support.  

At only 6 weeks, I was already showing.   We couldn’t believe how fast my belly was growing.  We began to wonder if I was having twins.   

 6 weeks

Around 13 weeks, my midwife, Patty, came to see me.  It was my first check up.  I was nervous.  The last time I had this check-up (with our fifth pregnancy), there was no heart beat and we lost the baby.  I was still determined to think positive thoughts.  

 13 weeks

Patty did all of the normal check-up things.  I got to do the “oh so fun” urine strip to check my levels, an iron check, she took my blood pressure, and figured out my due date.  Lastly, it was time to break out the doppler and look for a heartbeat.  I think MY heart stopped for a second.  I was so nervous.

She squirted the “doppler goo” on my belly and started searching.  We heard lots of funny sounds, but still not the one I had been waiting to hear.  The longer she searched, the more anxious and worried I became.  Finally, after what seemed an eternity, she found a heartbeat.  It was strong and fast, about 150 beats per minute.  I was so relieved!

 18 weeks

For further reassurance, for me anyway, we decided to get an ultrasound at 19 weeks.  We took our trip to Columbus, Ohio to Ultrasona.  We actually were not planning to find out the sex of our baby but they were having a monthly special: $65 for measurements and pregnancy confirmation w/ gender check.  We decided, “Hey!  Why not find out then”.  It was included in the price and I had an impatient family who wanted to know, in case we were having a girl (Oh yeah, in case you didn’t know, I am a mama of four boys).  They wanted to be able to throw me a shower if it was indeed a girl.

We brought all four boys with us.  I grew nervous as we waited our turn to be seen by our tech.  The boys were so excited.  “We can’t wait to see the baby on the big tv!”, they said.  Finally the ultrasound tech walked us back to our room.  As the boys and John sat on the couch watching, she began my ultrasound.  I almost started crying when I saw a jumping baby as she began moving the ultrasound instrument around my belly.  We didn’t have that last time.  And there was a heartbeat!!

Then, she began to zoom out to look at the rest of the baby.  As soon as she did, my husband and I both burst out in laughter.  What was the first thing we noticed?  Oh my!  We were having another boy!  We were all so excited.  We later decided to call him Azariah Loper.

Around this 18-19 week mark, I began to feel movement.  It was strong too.  It felt different than with the two previous pregnancies.  My third and fourth children were behind the placenta so their kicks were not as strong and it took me longer to feel movement.  He felt so strong!  I had another check-up at this point.  Patty told me that little Azariah sounded good and strong!  I was overjoyed!

Not much happened in the few weeks to follow, so I will skip ahead to 34 weeks…

 34 weeks

Around 34 weeks I became a little worried when I saw what I think was my mucous plug (I know, I know…tmi for some) and noticed that I had dropped, a lot!  I told my midwife about it immediately.  She told me to just lay low and take it easy.  I was on total pelvic rest…my poor husband! LOL

In just a week, I became sure that nothing was going on.  I felt fine.  I hadn’t had any other signs that labor would be soon or that I had a reason to worry.  I began to get back into my normal routine again.  

 36 weeks

 Around 36 weeks, I started having some back pain, which is not unusual for me during pregnancy.  I always battle the back pain.  I realized though that I needed to see a chiropractor.  The appointment with my chiropractor definitely helped my back.  I noticed that I was still having a hard time sleeping though.  I would have to switch sides throughout the night because my hips would become numb and then ache.   If I rolled over, it would take the edge off and give the opposite hip time to relax again.  It became my constant nightly battle.

 38 weeks

At about 38 weeks, I began cramping off and on during the day.  I figured and hoped that my body was dilating and gearing up for the upcoming labor.   I even had contractions off and on for almost a day but nothing happened.  I started to get a little frustrated.  I thought after the 34 week mark that my symptoms pointed to an early labor..or at least a little bit early.  The next two days following the contractions, I had cramping.  

I am now officially 39 weeks and I am still waiting…..

I hope to meet my bundle of joy real soon. Stay tuned and be watching my blog.  I will post pictures of little Azariah and tell his birth story! =)