Missed an update last week because I wanted to wait until all my appointments for baby boy were caught up and completed before writing.

My bloodwork was normal and low risk!

Got the NIPT results back last Wednesday (for anyone wondering I received my results on the 8th business day after I completed the bloodwork at Dynacare) and everything was normal/low risk – consistent with our eFTS which was a huge relief. My final appointment in the sort of saga of appointments I’ve had for his lip was completed this week – I had a phone appointment with the paediatrician at the hospital we are delivering at just to tie up any loose ends.

Our plan for delivery at this point is still with the midwives (thank god!) and in hospital as we did with Maggie. Really nothing else has changed – we have no reason to expect anything but a ‘regular’ birth experience, whatever that may be for this little guy! What will change is after he is born he will need to be seen by the paediatrician for a quick head to toe assessment and better inspection of his lip/palate to see if it is affected. Then we will have a better idea of what our feeding plan will be – if it’s lip only, we can breastfeed as planned. If palate is affected I’ll be pumping and bottle feeding with the specialty bottles so we will likely have to stay 24-48 hours at the hospital to make sure everything is good.

With Maggie we left the hospital within 3 hours after her birth once we both got the OK, so it will be weird to have to “stay”. I am obviously going to prepare for the latter when I pack my bag because we just won’t know what the situation is until he arrives. My husband reminded me that realistically, that is the situation with any birth or baby. And he is right. And I thank him for keeping me on a positive perspective!!

We also have to send a photo of baby’s lip and (if affected) palate to the team at Sick Kids so they can arrange for our first visit with them after we leave the hospital.

I am feeling good this week

Not going to lie, hitting 21 weeks felt rough. I was having a lot of pelvic discomfort last week, to a point where it was uncomfortable for me to move. I have felt better since this weekend and the past few days have been really good – I’ve been keeping up with walking every day and working out my 4 days a week and the movement has really helped me feel more ‘normal’ or close to baseline. I have barely had any pelvic discomfort in the past week or so. Prenatal yoga really helped too – I just started a 4 class series and will definitely be renewing after as long as my body still feels good!

When I have having pain, it was like a swollen/heavy feeling in my pelvis. I used an ice pack which helped, and one day it was bad enough for me to turn to Tylenol which honestly did provide pretty much instant relief. I tried to take it easy in terms of certain movements and that all seemed to help. I also wore a maternity band – just an older one I had from before – when I was out and about and it seemed to relieve some of the heaviness. I prioritized rest and my body and I’m glad to say it paid off. This week I am still prioritizing it but I feel better so I’m trying to maintain this feeling as long as possible! I felt like it was way too early in my pregnancy for me to feel so much pelvic discomfort – but each pregnancy is different!

One interesting thing I did notice is this pain lasted a few days, then the day it was gone I actually had a lot of shortness of breath with exertion. It only lasted one day but I wondered if maybe baby had been in a weird position for a few days, then flipped to breech? Just a guess but I really wondered if this was what happened!

I haven’t really had any other symptoms/issues, been pretty consistent – just the pelvic pain last week, very brief episode of SOB and that’s about it. I’ve been trying to wear my compression socks when I can and keep moving!

Baby is super active & super strong!

This little guy is sooo busy the past 2 weeks – flutters have become full movements now. And holy kicks! I don’t remember Maggie kicking this strong so early, but to be honest I’m realizing my memory timeline for Maggie’s pregnancy is probably not exact. She very well could have been kicking like this at 21-22 weeks.

He kicked so hard that Maggie and my husband have both been able to feel him already – so cool! He doesn’t really have a ‘time of day’ for activity anymore – it’s pretty much most of the day, and definitely when I lay down at night or first wake up. I love it – baby movement is my favourite part of pregnancy by far. Even in it’s more uncomfortable moments.

Coming up next week I have an ultrasound! I’m a bit nervous – we’ve been on such a rollercoaster ride with ultrasounds that I can’t help but be scared. I am also of course looking forward to seeing baby – and my ultrasound will be at the MFM clinic so it will be nice to have information while we do it (similar to how our echo was). I will post next weeks update after that – thanks as always for reading & following along!

If you listen to the podcast – a new episode is coming! I’m hoping to release it next week – a premie C-section birth story! And my guest is a dentist so she shares some quick tips for pregnant mamas and younger ones with dental care. Yay! Stay tuned.