We all may remember the Christmas card I sent out in December 2017 which stated Baby Schinkel would arrive in February 2018 and then I had to pair that with a birth announcement because she came early! Let's not make that mistake again! We would not change a thing if it meant sweet Olivia would not be in our life, but her grand entrance certainly took us by surprise. So we are cautiously optimistic this baby will cook a bit longer!
So far this pregnancy has been much harder than my pregnancy with Olivia. I am now 15.5 weeks along and still dealing with nausea and vomiting regularly. "Morning sickness," they say, does the morning extend to 5pm? I am always super amused by the stories of people that did not know they were pregnant cause for both pregnancies, the morning sickness has started like clock-work at 6 weeks and with Olivia it was just nausea (thankfully) but it went on until around 24 weeks. I am hopeful this one will stop a bit earlier. Cause let me tell you, being sick with a high energy toddler and a full time job is not my equation for success. Poor, sweet Marc has been a great support, picking up my slack and being an all around supportive dad and hubby!
As far as the risk of preeclampsia striking again? Well to be blunt, we are not sure! Most of the time, preeclampsia is thought of as a "first pregnancy" disorder, but if you had it with your first, you are at an elevated risk of developing it again, especially if you delivered very early and had it severe (which both were the case for me). The good news is that some people go on to have relatively healthy pregnancies, and those that do develop it, generally develop it later and milder. We hope for the former, but will take the later if necessary. Either way, my doctors have already said they will deliver me at 38 weeks, no matter what, so although baby's due date is May 6th, we know it will be more like April 22 or so when we meet this sweet baby.
We are taking every precaution in the book so have hope for a much better pregnancy. I have been started on a once daily low-dose aspirin (the only thing proven to prevent preeclampsia, though it only helps about 5% of the time), and am monitoring my blood pressure regularly. I am also being followed by both my OB and a perinatalogist (a high risk maternal doctor). So we are in good hands. Overall, we are told, my likelihood of developing preeclampsia again is somewhere between 15-25%. Needless to say, we will be more prepared this time around (likely taking a hospital bag to appointments as we get further along, so I don't end up like last time).
But enough with the technical talk, this baby will certainly be a blessing to our family and Olivia has been practicing her big sister skills with her plethora of baby dolls. I just know she will take her role seriously. We appreciate all the prayers and hopes for a successful pregnancy this time around, as we add this little pumpkin to our family!
Hello Tommy and Laura,Gratulation to your nice child(and comming child). I am Ingrid Ros from Germany. And please give my wish to Edith Schinkle. Shell was my girl friend in Germany for a long time.
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