Nugget (aka Chubbers) at 3 months.

I thought I'd do one final post dedicated to my CP baby - at 3 months, Nugget is tipping the scales at approximately 15 and a half pounds.  She is all rolls and chubby cheeks and I love it.  The downside is that my arm muscles have not had the gradual time to adjust to carrying that weight in the infant car seat, so I feel like a big weakling.


We are so blessed that something that can potentially be a concern was ultimately not a concern for us.  My OB stated that as ultrasound technology has improved, they are diagnosing more and more circumvallate placentas, and realizing that they don't always cause growth issues. 

She's here!

I'm a few days behind, but Nugget has made her appearance, with a few extra days of baking.  My indecisiveness ensured that I delivered med-free, even after I caved and requested the epidural - too late for that.  Nugget came fast and furious, but has been pretty calm and laid-back since.  Nursing like a champ from the beginning.   The hubs and I apparently have a skewed view of baby size as a result of having toddlers, as we discovered later that we both thought she was tiny when she was born.

Stats: 8 lbs, 7 oz.  22 inches long. 14-inch head.  No growth problems due to the circumvallate placenta here. The OB did show the hubs and I the membrane on the placenta, which was quite sizable, and did say that it did appear from examination that it was circumvallate, but he sent it to pathology to verify as well.  It was so nice to have such a mundane outcome from something that Dr. Google suggested could be very concerning.

Another (last?) growth update

We had another follow-up u/s to check on baby's size recently.  Good news, baby is growing right on track in the 50th percentile, so the OB is fine with not continuing growth ultrasounds.  This ultrasound the tech was also not able to clearly visualize the circumvallate placenta on the scan.  I've been able to see it on the previous scans as well, and was having difficulty seeing the curved edges on the last ultrasound, so the OB is interested to see if the placenta is really circumvallate at all and has asked that if he is not there to deliver me, that I have them send the placenta to pathology to verify if it really is circumvallate.  Nugget has been very active, and I am almost certain she will have her nights and days mixed up when she arrives, as she loves to dance and kick away in the wee hours.

We're only about a month away from d-day now, which is still so hard for me to believe.  I've been trying to soak up time with SB and BW lately.  I remember not understanding when people who were having their second baby said they couldn't imagine how they could love another baby as much as they loved their first.  I get it now.  It's not so much that I can't imagine loving another baby as much as I love SB and BW, my concern is how will I possibly give them all the attention and love that they deserve?  Quality over quantity, right?

Another growth update

Well, I guess this is really more of the same growth update.  I had my ob appointment and my u/s results finally posted, so I could see where nugget is growth-wise.  Her weight is right at the 50%, and all the measurements are right on - the only one that is a bit strange since we have so many tall genes is her femurs are only measuring in the 37%.  But then I remind myself that these measurements are done in millimeters, so there is a reason they give a +/- for the measurements.  Otherwise, she is measuring right in between the measurements for SB and BW for the same timeframe.  If that keeps up, she will hopefully be right between them weight-wise at birth, which would put her at about 7 lbs.  OB also declared at my appt that nugget is still breech.  He said if she hasn't flipped by 36 weeks he will schedule a version to try and turn her.  She is also posterior much of the time.  I have another u/s coming up already - that should be the last or second-to-last one, I expect.  I am very relieved that I haven't had any complications from the circumvallate placenta so far.

SB and BW get very excited to say hi to the baby, touch the baby, kiss the baby etc. with my bump.  I'm fairly certain they don't actually get the concept, but it's fun to see them so excited.

I'm starting to get fairly anxious about 3 under 3. As I was doing bathtime for SB and BW the other night, and they were all giggly and goofy, I started thinking about how bath/bedtime will work once nugget is here.  I expect that the hubs and I will need to split bath and bedtime duties for a while, as I will be nursing and probably busy with nugget while SB and BW are getting ready for bed.  Hopefully once nugget is sitting up on her own bath and bedtime will become more of an assembly line and group activity and will be a bit more manageable.  I am so lucky that hubs is willing and able to help out, but I also love bedtime.  I have so little weekday time with SB and BW the way it is, I hate to also give up bedtime routine every night.

Circumvallate Placenta update

I have been impatiently waiting for the clinic to update my electronic health record so I can look at the actual measurements from our latest ultrasound, but so far, no dice, so I'll post a brief update on our latest ultrasound and I can perhaps fill in more info once the actual report is posted.  At 30 weeks, nugget is measuring a few days ahead, so no growth issues to be seen yet, which is such a relief! She is breech, but seems to be quite the gymnast, as she extended her feet down into my bladder and then pointed them up by her head several times during the ultrasound - all of the "pike" and "straddle" exercises that SB and BW love to do (carryover from toddler gymnastics) must be a favorite of hers too - this also explains why I have a hard time telling what direction she is.  I am a little concerned that she is so comfy being breech.  SB and BW were head down from 20 weeks on, so I'm hoping she gets the memo soon that the exit is the other way.

Doula indecision

I'm trying to decide if we should hire a doula.  We are very, very strictly budgeted right now because of some unexpected expenses, trying to eliminate our debt, as well as trying to make sure we have enough money set aside to cover expenses while I'm on maternity leave.

I had hoped for a natural childbirth with SB and BW, but my labor was an induction that I didn't handle very well.  I feel like I can honestly say I never felt a true contraction.  I went from not feeling anything, to feeling some dull period crampiness to feeling a constant, unrelenting pain.  There were no peaks and valleys, no breaks.  I made no progress the majority of the day (I was dilated to a 3 prior to the induction) and when I finally made it to 4, the doctor okayed the epidural and I asked for it immediately.  Once I received the epidural, I snuck in a little nap and went from 4-10 in about an hour. 

I learned from my labor with SB and BW that DH is a very passive birth partner.  I think he wanted me to ask for help and tell him what to do, and if I didn't say anything, I didn't need anything.  I'm very indecisive myself, so that last thing I wanted to be doing when I was in pain was giving someone else suggestions on how to help me.  We didn't receive any suggestions from the nurses on positions or anything to help with the labor process at all, so I felt very alone in the process.

This second time around, I'd really like to go into labor naturally and give birth without pain medication.  I have a reasonable chance of having a fast labor - I progressed very quickly once I started making progress with my last labor, and my mom had 2 quick labors.  So I'm debating the doula.  I'd really like one, but the cost is deterring me a bit, and DH doesn't really seem too on board with it yet.  I probably need to discuss it seriously with him again, but like most things, I'm procrastinating.  If we aren't going the doula route, I need to prep more for doing things on my own and giving DH more direction.

No growth problems here!

Although there was a miscommunication following our last growth scan, my OB scheduled me for a follow-up the following week to get the actual measurements.  So far, baby nugget is right on track - her head even caught up a bit and is now right in line with gestational age.  The continue to confirm via ultrasound that I do have circumvallate placenta, and I can recognize the edges of the placenta curling up as well now on the u/s.  My mom went with me to this u/s and lucked out, because the tech was really enjoying doing the u/s and spent probably 10 or 15 minutes just trying to get some good 3D pictures for us, so we got to see baby yawn, and move her hands around and stick her tongue out.

I'm on the cusp of the 3rd tri now (how did that happen?) so I'm glad baby is growing okay.  I am operating under the assumption right now that everything is going to be just fine.  My mom, surprisingly, has stayed off google so far and hasn't researched the placenta issue - she said if she did she would probably just worry, which is probably true.  I haven't really told anyone else, because I don't want to blow it out of proportion or get people worked up when everything may be just fine. 

Baby is very active - although there was a lot of movement during my twin pregnancy with the two babies, they were also getting pretty crowded by this point in my pregnancy, so kicks and jabs had limited momentum.  I swear this baby thinks she is a pinball sometimes, and she gets some good whacks in.  I love it. 

I also continue to have almost zero back and hip pain, just a few twinges here and there.  Considering I am hefting 28-30 lbs  of toddler several times a day, I am very thankful for this.  I am sleeping well, and haven't even had to add pillow props (in fact, I've been trying to avoid, and I think sleeping with a pillow between my knees puts my SI joint out of alignment).  I'm seriously considering sending my chiropractor flowers or a big basket of candy for their office as a thank you.

Placenta update

I'm trying to follow along with the riveting saga that is my circumvallate placenta just so there is another resource out there besides the various chats you may be able to unearth or the scary statistics you may come across.  I had a follow-up ultrasound recently that was intended to (1) check baby's spine, as the tech was not able to adequately visualize the upper spine at the anatomy scan, and (2) check on placenta and growth of the baby.  Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication between my OB's office and the imaging lab, and despite my insistence to the tech that a major reason for the follow-up ultrasound was to check on baby's growth, the tech did not do any measurements or try to verify if she should be doing measurements.  So, we received confirmation that baby's spine is fine, I do have the circumvallate placenta, but no word on whether baby is growing appropriately. Argh.  So, I have another ultrasound next week to check baby's measurements.  I really hope she is growing okay.

Placenta Pizza

Ew, I know, that's the grossest blog title ever.  However, according to my OB, this is the easiest way to describe circumvallate placenta.  A normal placenta is smooth and uniform.  With a circumvallate placenta, the membranes curves up on its edges, like a pizza crust.  Because the hubs loves my OB and loves to joke with him, there were additional comments about lunch and eating pizza and red sauce that I will not include here.

Bottom line - my OB is not concerned about the placenta diagnosis at this time.  I will have ultrasounds every four weeks to check on baby's growth, (the next at about 24 weeks) and we need a follow-up ultrasound anyway because they were not able to properly image baby's spine. On my own, I'm trying not to overdo things and trying to really focus on eating healthy, even more than before, to make sure baby is getting all the nutrients it needs.  Baby is a bit of a night owl, and usually is pretty chill during the day, but has a definite active period around 9-10 pm, then usually throws some kicks in for good measure whenever I wake up during the night (which, with two toddlers teething and sick, is far more often than I would like).

Why hello, pregnancy curve ball.

While I was very happy to find out that our latest child, still cooking, is a singleton, I did lament to the hubs that I would miss getting all the ultrasounds that we did with the twins.  Because of my awesome OB that I switched to after kicking first mediocre OB to the curb, we had a number of monitoring ultrasounds (for a total of nine, I believe) to make sure the girls were growing well and weren't at risk for complications.  So, since we're just having one this time, I expected that we would have just our initial dating ultrasound, and the anatomy scan.

I should just stop complaining.  Seriously.

We recently had our anatomy scan, and a few days later, I received a notification that I had new information posted to my electronic health record.  I went and looked and was surprised that they posted the ultrasound findings, as usually these results aren't posted until after my OB appointment to discuss the findings.  In reviewing the results, the findings included a finding of circumvallate placenta.  I had to google it, as I hadn't heard this one before.

Circumvallate placenta is apparently very rare, occurring in 1-2% of pregnancies. Because it is rare, it's hard to find a lot of information on it online.  Basically, in my totally uneducated understanding, the placenta implants too deeply, takes up too much room, and then curls in on itself to compensate, which results in less surface area for the baby.  There can be a number of complications arising from this.  Bleeding. Placental abruption.  Premature rupture of membranes. Premature birth. Growth restriction for the baby.

However, all this must be taken with a grain of salt, as it apparently can be quite difficult to definitively diagnose circumvallate placenta via ultrasound, and the only way to definitively diagnose is after birth.  Bleeding is quite common, and I haven't had any so far this pregnancy (knock on wood) so I'm hoping it is either a misdiagnosis or I have a less serious case. I'll update again after speaking with my OB - but I wanted to blog about this since it is SO difficult to find info about this condition.