Friday, October 27, 2017

The Second Trimester

I'm just days away... I'll be 14 weeks at the beginning of next week, which means the arrival of the second trimester.  If it means that I'll stop feeling so fatigued, I'll take it -- my new job starts on Monday and I could use some extra energy.

Our MaterniT21 test results came back this week and everything looks good.  This combined with our 12-week ultrasound makes me feel slightly reassured, although I am still weighing the pros and cons of an amnio in the back of my head (I have a few weeks to decide).  We agreed to be surprised about the gender and I'm feeling really excited about waiting.  It's fun to ponder whether B will have a sister or a brother.  Driving home from school the other day she was telling me about her classmates who have babies (younger siblings).  She mentioned a few and then said "We should get a baby at the story."  This was completely unprompted by me.  I asked whether she wanted a sister or a brother and she answered "a brother."  When I asked what his name should be, she suggested we ask Forest (our cat).  Obviously he has all of the answers.  B will have a baby brother named "Meow".

According to "The Bump", this baby is a lemon this week, which makes me nostalgic for my pregnancy with Baby L / Quinn.  We called her "Lemon" throughout my pregnancy (we called Baby B "meatball").  Somehow that fruit just stuck and since our last name begins with "L", it had nice alliteration.  I remember how joyful R and I were just to be pregnant and how much fun I had reading about the baby's development each week.  I wonder if we'll ever get to a place in this pregnancy where we feel that way -- I know I could get there, but I think I need R to lead the way and I just don't see that happening.

I was just thinking that, like Lemon and Meatball, this baby needs a nickname, but I realized B already took care of that - Meow!

**********

On a completely separate note, this article in the NY Times this week was fascinating.  For those of you with POF/POI and/or low AMH, I recommend reading it.  Essentially, the article concludes that "AMH doesn't dictate a woman's reproductive potential," although it is one marker used to assess overall fertility.  What this study concludes is that "Among women attempting to conceive naturally, diminished ovarian reserve was not associated with infertility; women should be cautioned against using AMH levels to assess their current fertility."  These findings are certainly in line with my experience, which is that while I've been pregnant five times, I do have an issue with egg quality (hence two miscarriages) and I don't always ovulate regularly.  Plus, a friend who endured numerous IVF cycles while living abroad in various places mentioned to me that doctors outside the United States place a much lower value on AMH as a predictor for getting pregnant than they do on follicle count and FSH.  

7 comments:

  1. Hurrah! Second trimester! Cheering you on relentlessly!
    That’s interesting about AMH. I also got pregnant twice with low AMH. Mind you my Amtrak follicle count and FSH are also problematic, so the only explanation is my fertility is maybe not as crappy as it appears, though still pretty crappy by comparison to an average fertile. I’m sort of inclined to think I have the opposite situation: not many eggs but perhaps better quality? Who knows. Incidentally, my fertility doctor told us they were moving toward using AMH more than the other indicators. Whatever, with luck I’ll never have to go back to the clinic again. I won’t miss it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Antral follicle count. Amtrak, lol

      Delete
    2. Ha - I knew what you meant :) I, too, have low follicle count and my FSH has, at times, been off, but my AMH level was initially presented to me as the be all, end all of my fertility. Interesting to hear that the medical community may be shifting its perspective on this.

      Delete
  2. Congratulations on entering the 2nd trimester! That is an exciting milestone. And that's great you guys have decided to be surprised.

    Thanks for sharing that article, very interesting. I have low AMH and high FSH but managed to conceive on my very first IUI with only 1 follicle. However, I was only 28 at the time and had just finished 3 months of taking a whole whack of supplements, so I think my egg quality is good. I am trying really hard to focus on this miracle baby in my belly right now and not think about future babies but of course that's hard to do!

    Anyways super excited for you guys and enjoy following your blog :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for reading. Has your little one arrived yet? I'm anxiously awaiting your news! Can I follow along somewhere?

      Yes, certainly interesting. You just never know. And in the meantime, I have found fertility struggles much more manageable with a little one in your arms (or running around your house).

      Delete
  3. Hoping for more energy and an ever growing baby Meow.

    Also, I thought your last name started with E! ha.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha - nope, L! Baby Meow. I may need a more normal nickname.

      Delete

 
SITE DESIGN BY DESIGNER BLOGS