The news
In the spirit of this being my blog, and knowing that if anything were to happen I'd be blogging about it, I am sharing my news.
So, several weeks ago I started feeling sick. We have been so lucky this year, we really haven't been sick at all which is really saying something considering the number of people who live in this house. I figured we were due, and wasn't too worried about it. You already know where this is going don't you!?!?!?
A few weeks later, I really wasn't feeling any better. Suspicious, I took a pregnancy test.
Positive!
What??!?!??!
Yeah. Ben is 13 months old today, and I am 8 weeks, 4 days pregnant. Due September 25. I am still nursing Ben at least 6 times a day, sometimes as much as 8 times. Apparently I have become Miss Fertile at some point over the last 2 years, after about 5 years of being Miss Infertile.
There have been some moments of panicking, like when I called my mom because I was so scared to tell Brian because I thought he'd be upset (he wasn't, duh). Also when I think of having
a newborn,
an 18 month old,
3 year old,
5 year old,
6 year old,
and 15 year old,
and homeschooling 2 of them, sometimes I think my brain is going to explode. Also when I think of leaving the house, and buckling FIVE CHILDREN into their carseats...oh heaven help me! Five kids ages six and under. Who does that???
Since we moved I have to find a new everything. Technically I'm sure I could still drive the 50 minutes or so to my old midwife and the hospital there, but given my history I'm pretty sure that is not something I want to do. So the first thing I did was find the closest Level III NICU to our house, and that is where I shall deliver. I do not care about anything else. It's so strange, because last pregnancy the NICU was the last thing on my mind. Now it's the ONLY thing.
Then I checked the OB that I usually see (long story behind that, not going there ha ha), she doesn't deliver at that hospital so nope, not gonna be seeing her. So I am going to the midwives/OB/perinatologist at the hospital where I will deliver.
So the plan is to try to keep this baby cooking longer than 29 weeks. If I have another baby in the NICU I'm afraid I won't be able to hold it together, I barely held it together last time. But the plan is progesterone shots starting at 18 weeks (apparently they are weekly, and I have to give them to myself which sounds like torture). They will also have more frequent ultrasounds to check the length of my cervix to make sure it isn't shortening too much, if it is they can do things like place a cerclage, bed rest (oh Lord please no), etc. All in all I will be monitored much more closely, I'll visit with both midwives and an OB and a peri as needed, and yeah. I feel pretty good about this all things considered.
The bad news is this. So, you know about this ObamaCare thing, right? The new standards for health insurance policies, what has to be covered, etc.? Our plan didn't have maternity coverage, so we paid cash for Ben's birth and the prenatal care. Thankfully once he was born he was added to our policy so insurance covered his NICU stay. But anyway. So we had to get a new policy which covered maternity, inpatient drug treatment, all the stuff that ObamaCare required, beginning January 1 2014. It also increased our premiums quite a bit, more than doubled our deductible (from $5,000 to something like $13,000). We were pretty upset about it.
Then they came out with the "Oh yeah...I guess you can keep your old plan for one year, if it's OK with your insurance company". So I did the math, and decided that, even in the event of something catastrophic, it would make more sense to stay with our old plan (lower premiums, lower deductible, no cost sharing, etc.) So, we gladly re-signed up with our old plan.
Well, now I'm pregnant, and our old plan still doesn't have maternity coverage.
AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH. Plus I have to have all these ultrasounds and shots and crap. Now logically, you'd think the insurance company would do their own math (Hmmm, pay a few thousand dollars extra for prenatal care to keep the baby in, or pay a few hundred thousand dollars to have a baby in the NICU for several months?) but we all know insurance companies aren't always logical. So we might be paying for all of this out of our own pockets, which since buying a new house and the business slowing down aren't nearly as deep as they used to be.
We also will need a new vehicle, as our minivan is currently full. Also two new car seats (one for Ben, one for the baby), a crib...but really I think that will be about it. If it's a girl we will need girl clothes also but clothes are cheap and plus everyone likes buying baby clothes anyway. ;) Otherwise we have everything we really need for a baby, the baby can sleep in the bassinett for quite a while so we wouldn't even have to worry about a crib for a long time.
Anyway. I am excited about this baby but also scared. I feel badly because I feel like I should be as excited about this baby as I was with Ben, and I don't want this baby to be "less than" just because she came so close on his heels or because I happened to have preterm labor with her brother. None of that is her fault, right? Yes I am calling this one "her", because honestly who has 5 boys and one girl? Miss M needs a sister! :) Anyway, I am in prayers daily for this baby and for my own sanity, both now and in the future.
Oh and we had our ultrasound today to date the baby (we had an inkling baby was between 6 and 13 weeks but weren't sure exactly where in there, I still have PCOS and my cycles have always been extremely irregular). Everything looked perfect, my cervix looked good so far, heart rate was 178 which was the exact same as what Ben's was when we saw his first ultrasound. And the icing on the cake, after the ultrasound the midwife tried to listen to the heartbeat with the wand thing (what the heck is that thing called?) and she was able to find it! So we heard our little one's heartbeat today which is amazing considering baby is like 3 cm long at this point. So tiny!
Thank you God for this blessing, please help me to be worthy of it and may You glorify Yourself through this.
P.S. We have not announced on Facebook yet or anything like that so SHHHH for now!
So, several weeks ago I started feeling sick. We have been so lucky this year, we really haven't been sick at all which is really saying something considering the number of people who live in this house. I figured we were due, and wasn't too worried about it. You already know where this is going don't you!?!?!?
A few weeks later, I really wasn't feeling any better. Suspicious, I took a pregnancy test.
Positive!
What??!?!??!
Yeah. Ben is 13 months old today, and I am 8 weeks, 4 days pregnant. Due September 25. I am still nursing Ben at least 6 times a day, sometimes as much as 8 times. Apparently I have become Miss Fertile at some point over the last 2 years, after about 5 years of being Miss Infertile.
There have been some moments of panicking, like when I called my mom because I was so scared to tell Brian because I thought he'd be upset (he wasn't, duh). Also when I think of having
a newborn,
an 18 month old,
3 year old,
5 year old,
6 year old,
and 15 year old,
and homeschooling 2 of them, sometimes I think my brain is going to explode. Also when I think of leaving the house, and buckling FIVE CHILDREN into their carseats...oh heaven help me! Five kids ages six and under. Who does that???
Since we moved I have to find a new everything. Technically I'm sure I could still drive the 50 minutes or so to my old midwife and the hospital there, but given my history I'm pretty sure that is not something I want to do. So the first thing I did was find the closest Level III NICU to our house, and that is where I shall deliver. I do not care about anything else. It's so strange, because last pregnancy the NICU was the last thing on my mind. Now it's the ONLY thing.
Then I checked the OB that I usually see (long story behind that, not going there ha ha), she doesn't deliver at that hospital so nope, not gonna be seeing her. So I am going to the midwives/OB/perinatologist at the hospital where I will deliver.
So the plan is to try to keep this baby cooking longer than 29 weeks. If I have another baby in the NICU I'm afraid I won't be able to hold it together, I barely held it together last time. But the plan is progesterone shots starting at 18 weeks (apparently they are weekly, and I have to give them to myself which sounds like torture). They will also have more frequent ultrasounds to check the length of my cervix to make sure it isn't shortening too much, if it is they can do things like place a cerclage, bed rest (oh Lord please no), etc. All in all I will be monitored much more closely, I'll visit with both midwives and an OB and a peri as needed, and yeah. I feel pretty good about this all things considered.
The bad news is this. So, you know about this ObamaCare thing, right? The new standards for health insurance policies, what has to be covered, etc.? Our plan didn't have maternity coverage, so we paid cash for Ben's birth and the prenatal care. Thankfully once he was born he was added to our policy so insurance covered his NICU stay. But anyway. So we had to get a new policy which covered maternity, inpatient drug treatment, all the stuff that ObamaCare required, beginning January 1 2014. It also increased our premiums quite a bit, more than doubled our deductible (from $5,000 to something like $13,000). We were pretty upset about it.
Then they came out with the "Oh yeah...I guess you can keep your old plan for one year, if it's OK with your insurance company". So I did the math, and decided that, even in the event of something catastrophic, it would make more sense to stay with our old plan (lower premiums, lower deductible, no cost sharing, etc.) So, we gladly re-signed up with our old plan.
Well, now I'm pregnant, and our old plan still doesn't have maternity coverage.
AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH. Plus I have to have all these ultrasounds and shots and crap. Now logically, you'd think the insurance company would do their own math (Hmmm, pay a few thousand dollars extra for prenatal care to keep the baby in, or pay a few hundred thousand dollars to have a baby in the NICU for several months?) but we all know insurance companies aren't always logical. So we might be paying for all of this out of our own pockets, which since buying a new house and the business slowing down aren't nearly as deep as they used to be.
We also will need a new vehicle, as our minivan is currently full. Also two new car seats (one for Ben, one for the baby), a crib...but really I think that will be about it. If it's a girl we will need girl clothes also but clothes are cheap and plus everyone likes buying baby clothes anyway. ;) Otherwise we have everything we really need for a baby, the baby can sleep in the bassinett for quite a while so we wouldn't even have to worry about a crib for a long time.
Anyway. I am excited about this baby but also scared. I feel badly because I feel like I should be as excited about this baby as I was with Ben, and I don't want this baby to be "less than" just because she came so close on his heels or because I happened to have preterm labor with her brother. None of that is her fault, right? Yes I am calling this one "her", because honestly who has 5 boys and one girl? Miss M needs a sister! :) Anyway, I am in prayers daily for this baby and for my own sanity, both now and in the future.
Oh and we had our ultrasound today to date the baby (we had an inkling baby was between 6 and 13 weeks but weren't sure exactly where in there, I still have PCOS and my cycles have always been extremely irregular). Everything looked perfect, my cervix looked good so far, heart rate was 178 which was the exact same as what Ben's was when we saw his first ultrasound. And the icing on the cake, after the ultrasound the midwife tried to listen to the heartbeat with the wand thing (what the heck is that thing called?) and she was able to find it! So we heard our little one's heartbeat today which is amazing considering baby is like 3 cm long at this point. So tiny!
Thank you God for this blessing, please help me to be worthy of it and may You glorify Yourself through this.
P.S. We have not announced on Facebook yet or anything like that so SHHHH for now!
Aw, congratulations! Praying you get to have a "normal" pregnancy experience this time....complete with some "will this baby ever come out?" time at the end!
ReplyDeleteOh how wonderful it would be to just be so over being pregnant and ready to get the baby out! I hope so too! :)
DeleteAmazing news! Love it :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
DeleteI suspected this was your news after your last post. To make you feel less lonely our baby is ten months old and I am about twelve weeks along with lil sib. If all goes well and our babe is born in early sept as planned we will have an 8 yo, almost 7yo, two 5 yos and a 16 monthsish old. We also have our precious daughter in heaven who should be almost 4 by sept. Only diff with you is only one is adopted. I have a blog...feel free to check it out but it's mainly a grief blog. I started following you cause we were on the same April 2013 birth board when Ben was born and you posted his story...I think that's it anyway...adjusted age my Nathan and your Ben are very close, I think...oh and we homeschool! Anyway, wishing you an uneventful and peaceful pregnancy. Children are a blessing but also a handful. It's a lot of work, I know you know...but they do grow up, if we are lucky. Congratulations! I will look forward to reading updates when you have time.
ReplyDeleteJust read the first few pages of your blog and now I am crying like a baby, thank you for the reminder that life is so precious even when days seem so hard. Congrats to you on your pregnancy, and thank you for the encouragement, if you can manage homeschooling with your crew that gives me hope that perhaps I can also! :)
DeleteLook into transabdominal cerclage, much more effective and recommended for those with previous preterm labor, birth.
DeleteCongratulations!
ReplyDeleteI do that...13 months, 3, 4, 5, 7, 7 - my 7 year olds just turned 7 so it was 6 kids 6 and under until just recently. It works out. It's a lot of work, but it does work out.
We know it's highly possible bmom will have another baby, probably sooner rather than later, and there are grounds to have the baby immediately removed if she does. So, we could have 7 young ones. And then there is my good friend whose story is nearly identical to ours and after several years (and 4 adoptions) she just found out she is pregnant. There is a possibility we'll have more one way or another even though we're not actively seeking it. If we do I'll feel a bit like you're describing here.
Congrats! It's amazing how you can wait for so long for something you really desire... then God answers with an abundance!!!!!! I did vaginal progesterone suppositories for the first 13 weeks (daily) to keep this baby in.... and a friend did the shots (daily) for 13 weeks. She said you get used to them... but the first few times is a little rough. Her husband helped a lot too! Good luck!!! Keep us posted!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I am hoping my husband will help with the shots too, I'm not sure I can handle it myself. Blech!
DeleteWhat a blessing! Congratulations!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
DeleteI love your blog and this is the BEST news I have read all day! Congrats
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
DeleteLove this! And love your family, as always. Who would have thought, six years ago when we met, we'd both be where we are today? (I say this as my daughter paints on the wall with cottage cheese, and my son sings a melody about the sour milk I served him with lunch...) no doubt about it, God is daily, continuing to equip us for the plans he made long before our existence as mothers.
ReplyDeleteIf I would have known 6 years ago where I'd be today...well I'm pretty sure I would have thought it was a joke. Ha! :) Thankful for your family and thankful to have you as a friend on this journey of life!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOh yes about those progesterone shots... The least painful method is warm progesterone, really stretching the skin before you insert the needle and massage the spot afterward. They aren't too bad IF you remember to do those things.
ReplyDeleteGreat news! Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteI had been wondering since you needed your maternity clothes back :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, I forgot my phone and keep forgetting to reply, but yes, if you get to it, I'll need those two bonus items...I'm calling it post-preggo-baby-doesn't-sleep brain. I could have SWORN I checked all the tags when I was cleaning out the closet!
CONGRATS! :)
Wow! Mind blowing.
ReplyDeleteWow! Mind blowing.
ReplyDeleteOhmygoodness! Ohmygoodness. Congratulations!! Praying!
ReplyDelete