38w4d in denial about being pregnant

I found out I was pregnant at 3w2d and went to the doctor straight away. My betas were 11 and they did my first round of IVIG but were hesitant to offer any congratulations, saying that I needed at least a 50 on the betas. I knew that 11 was low, but I also knew that I found out I was pregnant pretty early. Three days later my betas were 80 and I was officially declared pregnant and told my due date was 28 December 2016. For the first 12 weeks I was scared of miscarrying even though I was on IVIG, baby aspirin, and progesterone cream. They say 1 in 3 women miscarry and with high NK cells I'm sure my odds of miscarrying were higher.

After 12 weeks I was feeling better and just hoped to make it to 24 weeks, which is considered viability. Then at 20w7d I started leaking fluid. After a few stressful hours in the early morning in the ER I found out that everything was ok.

I made it passed my second trimester and was smack dab in the middle of my third when I found out at 34w7d that the baby, who had always been at or ahead of dates, was now a few weeks behind. I know that at that point measurements can vary by as many as 4 weeks. However, it's not very comforting when everything was measuring fine before then. Two weeks later, the measurements were better, but still didn't match up so they pushed the due date back until 6 January 2017. The doctor seemed not to worry and induction was never mentioned. I know in the US they seem to induce by 39 weeks at the latest when there are immune issues involved. I guess Korea is different. I'm honestly surprised I got this far. My water broke with my daughter early in the morning at 37w2d and she was born at 37w4d. Now I'm 38w4d and I have a feeling I will be late.

I think due to the miscarriages I had before I don't want to get my hopes up. I know I'm pregnant, but I'm in denial. It's hard for me to connect to the baby. It feels weird to think that there's a little human inside of me. I definitely don't feel as excited as I did when I was pregnant with my daughter. I just want to get this all over with and have a healthy baby. I only got sick once in the first trimester and started wearing maternity clothes in my first trimester. I had some bad leg cramps in the second trimester. I've also been having Braxton Hicks throughout the third trimester. I haven't gained much weight. In fact, I haven't gained any weight since 21 weeks, but my belly keeps getting bigger.

I've finally started taking some photos of me being pregnant, but nothing like when I was pregnant with my daughter and took weekly photos. I feel more cold and objective. I file all the paperwork and organise the ultrasounds so that I can make a claim with my insurance. I have all the paperwork we need to get the baby's American passport, CRBA, and SSN as well the the Peruvian passport, DNI, and birth certificate. But the excitement's not there. I'm just holding my breath hoping that everything will be ok. My doctor is supportive. Surprisingly they haven't said anything about me having a home birth.

I also feel like a part of my freedom is being taken away. My daughter just turned 5 a few months ago. She was breastfed until she was 4 and we co-slept until she was nearly 4.5 years old. She still sneaks into my bed in the morning. But now she's independent. She can get dressed, get herself food, I can leave her alone in the bath, she picks up her toys. I can have some me time. Once the baby comes, all that will go away. I'll be starting over for the next 5 years. This baby was very much planned and wanted, but I still have mixed feelings about the whole thing. Soon, this pregnancy will come to an end and we will have another little human in the house.

For more info, you can see how much this has cost, I also have a summary of dates, as well as my Rx protocol. 

27w7d measuring cervix length

At this appointment, they did a vaginal ultrasound to measure the cervix and said that it was more than 5 cm, which is good. I will be opting out of this ultrasound in the future if they offer it. I'm past viability, so everything should be ok. The baby is growing just fine and is measuring slightly ahead. The femur is consistently a week ahead.

Stats

• BPD is 7.04 cm (28w3d).
• AC is 23.63 cm (28w1d).
• FL is 5.48 cm (29w1d).
• FHR is 147 bpm.
• EFW is 1220 gr. 

Money

• Today I paid 236,900.
• Doctor's visit: 32,270. 
• Ultrasound 204,630. 
• Tricare (my insurance) paid 236,900.
• Out of pocket is 0. 

More info
For more info, you can see how much this has cost, I also have a summary of dates, as well as my Rx protocol.

23w6d 4D ultrasound

My daughter came along this time because we thought it would be nice for her to see the baby. The anatomy ultrasound takes forever. It took about 30 minutes and after about 2 minutes she wanted to go home. She did think it was funny that they got to see the baby's butt. They measured a lot of things and it all looks normal. The baby is ahead for most dates, so that's good. We also finally agreed on a name and as it works out, my daughter and this baby will be having similar names.

No IVIG or intralipids today! It's nice to be done! And I don't have to come back for an entire month which is very nice. I opted out of the gestation diabetes test and luckily my doctor didn't push it.

Stats

• BPD is 5.84 cm (23w7d).
• HC is 21.46 cm (23w5d).
• AC is 20.34 cm (25w1d).
• FL is 4.24 cm.
• EFW is 698 gr.

Money

• Today I paid 162,260.
• Doctor's visit: 32,260. 
• Ultrasound 130,000. 
• Tricare (my insurance) reimbursed me for 162,266. 
• Out of pocket was 0.

More info
For more info, you can see how much this has cost, I also have a summary of dates, as well as my Rx protocol.

21w5d and Intralipids #1

Today I should be getting another round of IVIG which would have been #7, however, they have decided to give me intralipids instead since everything is going well. I've heard from people that intralipids is fast, easy, and painless. It was not for me. I had no issues with IVIG, but intralipids hurt, made my arm feel heavy, and just made me feel weird. It took about 2.5 hours for them to do 400 ml of a 10% solution which is 10 gr.

Everything is normal. The baby is growing fine. They said it was a girl for the third time and I think my husband finally believes them.

Stats

• BPD is 5.21 cm (21w7d).
• FL is 4.03 cm (23w1d).

Money

• Today I paid 133,780.
• Doctor's visit: 32,270. 
• Intralipids: 41,510. 
• Ultrasound 60,000. 
• Tricare (my insurance) reimbursed me for 32,273. 
• Out of pocket was 101,507.

More info
For more info, you can see how much this has cost, I also have a summary of dates, as well as my Rx protocol. 

20w7d leaking clear fluids

It happened a couple times before while I was sleeping. I felt fluid leaking. Of course, if you google it you are told that it's either amniotic fluid or urine. It didn't seem like I was peeing myself and I thought it was weird that it was only happening when I was lying down. But since this was the third time it happened, I decided to go to the ER at Osan AFB.

It was early in the morning and I got seen right away. They did an ultrasound then made me drink a ton of water and did another ultrasound. I've had numerous ultrasounds in Korea and was never told to drink water. It makes me think that Korean ultrasound technicians are a lot more experienced than American ones. After they did the ultrasound and ran some tests they told me that it was neither amniotic fluid nor urine, but a yeast infection. And while you'd think that I would know what a yeast infection was, this was the furthest I'd been pregnant since my daughter and I figured all the extra discharge was normal plus I'd had it since the beginning. Now I know that the high doses of oral steroids (prednisolone) probably killed off the good bacteria and caused a yeast infection.

At least there's an easy fix and it just goes to show you that fluid isn't always amniotic fluid or urine.

Total cost of this visit was 0. For more info, you can see how much this has cost, I also have a summary of dates, as well as my Rx protocol.

18w2d IVIG #6

Today I was told that I would not have anymore IVIG treatments. I was supposed to go to 23 weeks and I'm only at 18 weeks. The doctor said that since I started at 3 weeks instead of at 5 weeks and that the baby is measuring ok, I should be fine. I am very wary about stopping 5 weeks early and with only 6 treatments instead of 7, but they said I could do intralipids (which is egg, soybean, and other things) next time.

Stats

• BPD is 4.31 cm (19w1d).
• AC is 13.33 cm (18w7d).
• FL is 3.13 cm (19w6d).

This appointment
Again, I was told that it was a girl but my husband is still in denial. Intralipids is often done instead of IVIG because it's cheaper. It also has similar results as IVIG, but only in the case where there is no known reason for miscarriages. Since we know that I have high NK cells, IVIG is supposed to be better. This is IVIG #6 and my last treatment. The IVIG is a 5% solution of 300 ml, which is 15 gr of IVIG.

I'm taking fish oil and Wobenyzme N, both of which are supposed to suppress NK cells and some people have said it's a natural alternative to IVIG or intralipids.

Money

• Today I paid 381,410.
• Doctor's visit: 32,260. 
• IVIG #5: 289,150. 
• Ultrasound 60,000. 
• Tricare (my insurance) reimbursed me for 33,942. 
• Out of pocket was 347,468.

More info
For more info, you can see how much this has cost, I also have a summary of dates, as well as my Rx protocol. 

15w2d and IVIG #5

I did another round of IVIG. This is number 5. The IVIG is a 5% solution of 300 ml, which is 15 gr of IVIG. They also did a Fragile X syndrome screening and Quad test and said I would get the results in a week or so. (Edit: Everything is normal.) The baby is growing just fine and is measuring a few days ahead. We were told it was a girl, but my husband says it's too early to tell.

Stats

• BPD is 3.17 cm (15w7d).
• FL is 2.13 cm (16w4d).

Money

• Today I paid 837,140.
• Doctor's visit: 32,270. 
• IVIG #5: 289,140. 
• Ultrasound 60,000. 
• Fragile X syndrome screening and Quad test 455,710. 
• Tricare (my insurance) reimbursed me for 496,722. 
• Out of pocket was 340,418.

More info
For more info, you can see how much this has cost, I also have a summary of dates, as well as my Rx protocol.