Somehow the calendar has turned over to February already so I thought I'd start a new thread.

SR - an international move sounds so intimidating and I wish you the best of luck, easy weather, and easy travel. I like your idea to maybe add a doula to your care team. Although I stopped seeing my therapist for my trauma/ptsd/depression at the end of 2019, I am convinced that she helped save my life last year. I hope you are able to find someone who fits your needs well.

April, I am envious that you are already feeling your babe. I have felt my little one wiggle here and there, and this morning I had a pretty distinct mini-jab, but otherwise I'm feeling nothing regularly or even every day. I have an anterior placenta right now - so I think it'll take a little longer.

My cerclage so far is holding well. I have had some major paranoia about things going wrong and I find myself in little mental spirals here and there. I almost went to the maternity ER twice to get checked, even though my specialist has said everything I am experiencing is very much normal. It's just hard to believe that things are okay sometimes. I am practicing some affirmations to help me get back into the moment. Feeling the baby move occasionally helps snap me out of it. Anyways, I'm hanging on, and anxiously waiting for my next appointment in a little over a week. I think with the genetic testing, the cerclage, my son's birthday and death days, my husband's birthday all happening in the span of 2 or 3 weeks is just a LOT, and I am entering a bit of a quiet period in terms of family things and work obligations, and for that I am grateful.

Allison - I'm glad the cerclage is holding well. How far along do the doctors expect you to get with it? Do you have to take special precautions physically? Don't ever worry about going in to get checked - my experience is that once they know your history, everybody in the hospital is more than happy to set your mind at ease.

April - have you had the anatomy ultrasound yet? If not, good luck!

I have maybe felt a little something, but not much yet. I think in the past I haven't felt movement until around 20 weeks or so, but honestly I can't remember (which is odd considering I had babies in 2017 and 2018 - you'd think it would still be fresh). My daughter and I move on Monday and I'm trying not to stress too much about it. Unfortunately my husband can't join us until his visa comes through - which should be by early April at the latest. If he doesn't make it by the start of the third trimester, I will come back here and we will just stay since I want consistent care through the third trimester. Either way, the stress of toddler parenting plus pregnancy after loss plus returning to the doctors/hospital where we had our loss alone is definitely weighing on my mind. I'm especially nervous to go to the 20w ultrasound alone. Luckily, I will have family around to help with the toddler, but I find it hard to lean on them/deal with them in terms of the pregnancy. For now, we're just trying to soak in every moment together and hopefully it'll just be one step in front of the other until this time is over. Wish me luck!

Allison- I bet that was a lot to have going on in the matter of a few weeks. I hope things have slowed down a little for you, and you're able to enjoy the little happy things in your pregnancy.

SR- Good luck on your move today! I'm sure it's nerve wrecking, but I bet you're glad to have family close for the next few months. My anatomy scan is scheduled for next week. We had a scan 5 weeks ago that showed that everything looks great, and that our little boy has all his major organs. He was too small for them to measure everything they needed, but said that everything looks great so far.

SR- My doctors are hoping I get to 36 or 37 weeks with this baby, but they have said that 28 is the first goal, 32 the second, 34, and then 36/37. Because of the type of c-section I had with my son, I'm not allowed to labor, and have to have a repeat section, and cannot go past 37 weeks anyways. I am completely fine with that, it almost gives me a sense of control over just one thing in this pregnancy. Physically, there are some restrictions - I have to take it easy, no intense workouts, but for the most part everything can stay the same. My doctors are very much against bed rest unless my cervix drastically shortens or if I go into preterm labor and I am very grateful to not have to do that right now. I started progesterone shots last week, my husband gives them to me, and he is surprisingly very good at it!

Things have slowed down for me for the most part, I have the next month and a half booked out for appointments which makes me feel pretty good. I am 17 weeks today, and I get my anatomy scan next Thursday. I feel the baby move almost every day now and am starting to get really excited.

SR I hope your move went well. That's got to be so hard to be away from your husband, and I'm happy you are able to find a way to be together toward the end of the pregnancy. Good luck with everything!

April, how did your anatomy scan go? I'm so happy for you that things are looking great with you and your baby boy.

My anatomy scan was today! Everything looks perfect with the little guy. He is measuring 20 weeks 4 days (and I'm 20 and 2), 75th percentile overall, but 99th percentile for his arms. Looks like we have a body builder on our hands! The doctors don't need to see me until 32 weeks, which is such a relief. I really like how thorough maternal fetal medicine is, but their hours require me to take off work for every appointment. All in all, when I was pregnant with my daughter, at the anatomy scan she wasn't in a good position to get pictures of her heart, so we had to go back for 2 more ultrasounds. Fortunately, this little guy was very cooperative, for which we are very grateful.

I am a teacher, and at my school there are 5 other pregnant women. They all know what I went through last year, so there aren't any secrets and they were genuinely happy to find out that I was pregnant again. That being said, it's really difficult for me to see so many other pregnant women. I honestly worry that something might happen to their babies too. There was a scare a few weeks ago that someone's child had some chromosomal abnormalities, but that seems to have cleared up since her anatomy scan, but it's still in the back of my mind, that every time one of them are out for the day, I can't help but think the worst. I guess it's just the reality that we had to face, and I'm wondering if any of you feel similarly.

Allison- How exciting for you to feel your little one move! I love to think that my son is sharing a place that he his sister grew in for 10 months. It gives me so much peace, and a connection that I know the two of them will always share.

SR- Hoping your move went well, and that you are starting to feel settled in your new home. Hopefully you aren't too lonely without your husband for the next few weeks. I'm sure they will fly by.

April

April, I'm so happy things went great, and yes it does sound like you have a little Popeye of your own! A colleague of mine is having a challenging pregnancy - failed non-stress tests and lots of worry, which gives me so much worry too. A lot of the time I think I just know too much for my own good about what can go wrong - falling into a really minuscule percent in my last pregnancy did that, and I'm sure does that for all of us.

I hadn't thought about how special it is that this new baby is sharing a place where their brother grew for so many months, April. I love that.