Update

Clark is growing so fast. He is almost out of 6 month clothing. In 6-9 comfortably. It is insane how fast he is flying through the sizes. He wears a size 3 diaper. He has his 4 month appointment on Thursday, we will know how fast he is growing then.

Every night he goes to bed between 7:30-8 pm. He gets fussy…that’s him saying hey!!! It’s my bed time. He loves eating. His teething is out of control. Lol. There is drool everywhere. His shirt is usually soaked. His hand…no fist is usually being shoved into his mouth. He will try to gnaw on my hand, shoulder…arm even. Whatever part is available to him.

He is such a happy boy. He gets excited when I am done working for the day and he gets his time with me.

He rolls over every time we change his diaper. He rolls over both ways very well. That is his form of transportation. He gets frustrated at tummy time because he wants to move but can’t get anywhere fast.

Almost 3 months old

At Clark’s 2 month appointment he was weighing in at 14 lbs 13 oz. He is a big boy who loves to eat. He had just started rolling over and being loved and kissed by his sister’s any chance they get.

He received some shots and was not a happy boy. We were having some issues every night with him screaming for an hour or two until he would fall asleep. Kevin realized he may have been overeating and was uncomfortable. It has since stopped. And at night for the most part he sleeps longer than just 2-3 hours.

I can tell when he is having a growth spurt. He decides to eat just about every hour and acts like he is starving. (Currently going through one now) He is already in 3-6 month clothes. Growing out of stuff so fast. We have been so lucky to get stuff passed down to us from a number of people in our lives. I truly can’t thank them enough. Without all these amazing people we wouldn’t have had nearly all the cute clothes, burp cloths, diapers and blankets he has now.

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Baby Clark

I had been going to get NST’s twice a week and an ultrasound once a week. At the end of 36 weeks they determined I needed to be induced at 37 weeks.

Monday June 7, 2021 around 10am we were admitted to Labor and Delivery. We had an incredible nursing staff and Dr. Nichols was super informative and involved in the whole process. We had a few hiccups in the process and at 10:42pm Clark David Knapp was born. 7 lbs 10 oz and 20 3/4″ long.

We couldn’t be more happy or in love with our family of 5! We came home on Wednesday and the girls are just so in love with their baby brother.

35.5 weeks….

I have been testing my blood sugar. Fasting and one/two hours after eating. Because my fasting numbers rarely are under 95, I have been giving myself nightly insulin shots. Not pleasant. Started at 8 units …numbers were still above 100. Monday they moved me to 12 units nightly. Tuesday I was at 93. It was working!!!! But both Wednesday and Thursday they were 101 again. At my NST today, they moved me to 14 units. Hopefully, this will do the trick.

Each week I have to do NST twice…. Monday’s and Thursdays. I also will be getting an ultrasound weekly. I am down 2 pounds from Monday. The ultrasound is still showing his belly measurements are big. This week the fluid is also measuring in the high levels. Doctor came to talk to me. We will do the 2 appointments next week. NST twice and an ultrasound on Thursday. If the fluid is still measuring high….they we will be scheduling an induction for 37 weeks. Because of the added fluid, there is added pressure and I could go into labor early…but induction at 37 weeks if the fluid levels don’t go down. I am disappointed. I was hoping for better news today.

34 Weeks…

Well the glucose tolerance test was a disaster. Took so long to get the results because the Doctor who wrote the order put Fasting…. But told me to eat and have the glucose beverage. There was a lot of confusion from everyone. My numbers came back at 115. Which was marked high. But since it was actually the one hour ..it needed to be under 140.

Essentially I passed. However, after emailing with the office nurse it still had not been noted in my file. So when I had my appointment with Dr. Dorr, she ordered the three hour. I did end up having to do the 3 hour test, even after she and I spoke about the mix up. Just to be on the safe side.

However, there had already been an appointment with a gestational diabetes counselor made. They sent my pharmacy a script for a glucose meter and all the parts that go with checking your sugars daily. When my results came back. I assed all the tests….but no one cancelled that appointment with the counselor.

Had the appointment and she wanted me to track my glucose for 2 weeks since all my numbers were fine. My fasting number should be under 95…it has consistently been around 100 or higher.

Today I had an ultrasound to monitor the SCH we had issues with earlier in the pregnancy. The tech measured the baby and told me that he was measuring big. She didn’t see the SCH anymore and went to get the Doctor.

Doctor said he would like to medicate me for the high fasting numbers. He suggested insulin shots since it is safe and doesn’t pass through the placenta to the baby. I showed concern for using insulin and he said I could do metformin, but that does pass through the placenta and goes to the baby.

Now after I take my after dinner numbers, I have to give myself a shot of insulin. I am not happy about it. I don’t care that it’s only for like 5.5 weeks. I don’t care that other people have done it and all turned out fine. This is my fourth pregnancy and I feel like I failed this baby. I am nervous that it will disqualify me from being a surrogate for my friend again. And that would be devastating.

I know people mean well but none of their words of encouragement have made me feel any better.

I also have to go twice weekly for non stress tests…in Annapolis. Today has sucked…then I had a dentist appointment….and those are never pleasant.

1 hour Glucose tolerance test

Last week Tuesday I did the glucose tolerance test. It has always been fairly easy to do the one hour. This one was almost unbearable. I could barely get that beverage down.

Waited my hour, got my blood work done. And I am STILL waiting on the results. I check every day and nothing. Like always, when it takes a long time….I think the worst. I have my fingers crossed that I won’t be forced to do the 3 hour. Last time was terrible and not sure I could survive another one.

My appointment on Tuesday was a lot better than the previous month. Told the nurse about the awful doctor and she said she would note my file so I don’t have to see her. She also said she didn’t like her because she is rude. Good to know.

My next appointment is May 4th. Our 8th wedding anniversary. Hopefully I will have the results before then.

I am partially vaccinated against covid. Got the first Moderna shot today. This far, my injection site is a tad sore….that’s it.

12 weeks left

My last appointment was terrible. I saw the new Doctor in the practice for the second time. She was not pleased with my weight gain and decided she was putting me on a “rainbow diet”. My plate is to be 3/4 fresh fruits and veggies. The other 1/4 can be a protein of my choice ” chicken, fish, tofu or an egg”. She typed up her notes saying “Patient will control her weight and NOT gain anymore”.

I was mad, annoyed and pissed off. I cried my entire drive home. She didn’t bother to ask about my previous pregnancies…ask about my diet, or ask how I felt. She insisted I must already have gestational diabetes and this is the diet she has all those patients go by. So she was I guess being proactive.

I have my glucose tolerance test tomorrow morning. And my 28 week appointment tomorrow afternoon. I am seeing a different doctor. I want to see how this appointment goes before I mention to this doctor that I did not like the other doctor and prefer not to be seen by her again.

I hope this test goes well. I really do not want to do the 3 hour test. But my last 2 pregnancies I have had to do the 3 hour. Ugh.

Subchorionic hemorrhage

So after Christmas I went to the ER for bleeding and cramping. I was told in the ER t is called a Subchorionic hemorrhage and was told ” you have probably already stopped bleeding”. For a day or two here and there I did get relief. But overall… It’s been non stop bleeding/spotting. I have had multiple ultrasounds and there is still a large hemorrhage in my uterus.

On Tuesday I had my anatomy scan. They could see it still there, and still large. I was told to expect at least another month of bleeding if not more. I was also informed that this could lead to pre-term labor. If I start to feel labor pains or if I feel like my water broke to call my doctor immediately. A lot of new information. Still nothing that can be done. And being told to take it easy is just so the women don’t feel it was their fault if they miscarry.

16 Weeks

It’s been a rough 16 weeks. From the start nothing has been easy…not how we found out we were having baby #3… and certainly nothing else. I ended up in the ER with bleeding and cramping. After HOURS of sitting alone in the waiting room and the triage room…. I was diagnosed with Subchorionic hemorrhage. All I was told was to “take it easy” I did… for the next 48 hours I sat on the couch and that was it. In the late evening I decided to take a shower to feel better. Within an hour, the bleeding and cramping was back.

I have since seen my OBGYN. They’ve done ultrasounds and pelvic exams and I’ve been told there is nothing we can do to make it stop or go away. Just “take it easy” for a while. I’m hoping that we are past all the bleeding and cramping. Hopefully now we can have a more normal pregnancy.

We found out the gender of the baby, thought we would do something different to announce it this time. I made a onesie with the baby’s name and June 2021. We thought it would be cute to do a facebook live to have our daughters open the box and reveal the onesie. It didn’t go as planned…. and OF COURSE people weren’t happy with HOW we shared our news. Somehow sharing our news has ruined other people’s holiday and resulted in me finding out that I am a “toxic person”.

I wanted to keep this pregnancy quiet for as long as possible. I was talked into revealing to everyone. I was hoping the people in our lives would be happy for us. Not in the least. The comments people feel are ok to make to pregnant/TTC/Infertile women is astounding. After having been a surrogate for a wonderful family. I have been FAR more sensitive to HOW things come off to women who can’t conceive/carry. As as surrogate I’ve endured other people’s opinions on why we aren’t meant to carry other people’s babies, their opinions on how people are selfish for wanting a baby of their own when there are so many kids out there that need to be adopted…. so they should just adopt or enjoy life with out kids. OR… after having a baby via surrogacy… they should be happy with just one. If these are your opinions…. please keep them to yourself. Don’t share them. It’s bad enough that during pregnancy people feel it’s ok to comment on your weight/appearance. Asking “are you sure you’re only having one?” “You’re so big” “If you’re this big now, just imagine how big you will be at X amount of weeks” Are these comments supposed to make us feel good? Or are you truly trying to be a jerk?

Here’s to hoping the next 24 weeks go by quickly, easily and peacefully 🙂

4th quarter of 2020

I was so sure 2020 was going to end as quietly as January started.

I had been spotting since giving birth in May. Had a good day or two and it would be back again. After quitting my bc pills I had a good 3 to 4 weeks with no spotting. I contacted my doctor to try and get more answers than it can take up to 3 months to go back to normal. At this point I was nearing the 5 month postpartum mark. She suggested I take a pregnancy test. Sure enough that thing came back positive.

The bleeding/spotting continued. I had blood work and ultrasounds done. Confirmed that I was just past 5 weeks. But the blood work was not increasing by 50% in 48 hours. I was told I was miscarrying. More blood work and more ultrasounds. After about a month…. everything seemed normal.

So 2020 is ending with us having Baby #3 after we gave away all of our baby stuff. Due date June 21, 2021.