Thursday, December 22, 2011

9 weeks 3 days

I had my first OB appt yesterday. It was with a Nurse Practitioner rather than my regular OB/GYN because I guess that is how they do it. She asked me a bunch of questions about my history. She didn't ask much about Todd, except whether I am married and what his name is. Then she did a pelvic exam and a pap smear. I have never had a pap smear that hurt so much. OMG it was horrible. She kept moving the speculum around like she was trying to get a better view. I knew things were more sensitive down there but geez! Then she stuck her hand in halfway to my belly button to feel for my cervix and find my uterus. So awful. She let me get dressed and went to get an order for bloodwork. When she came back I asked why she hadn't used the Doppler to find the heartbeat. She said that I am "a little fluffy" in that area and it was a little early for even a thin person. She offered to try as long as I promised not to get upset if she didn't find it. She reminded me that I had seen the baby on ultrasound and seen the heartbeat 2 weeks ago. She tried to find it for a few minutes and was able to pick it up for a split second before it moved away. I didn't hear it when she did, but she said she had heard it. She said she couldn't keep it on the doppler for long, so she was sorry.

Then she scheduled me for a Nuchal Translucency test on January 19th. This is a test where they measure the fluid in the baby's neck as a marker for Down's Syndrome. It will be the first ultrasound where the baby will actually look like a baby. I will also have some bloodwork to test for other Down's markers. Todd is planning to come to this one so he can see the baby for the first time. On that same day, I will see my regular OB for my second appointment.

She ordered a bunch of bloodwork and sent me off to another nurse who gave me a flu shot. I got it and then went off to the lab where they drew 8 vials of blood to check for a bunch of stuff.

We are packing up right now for vacation. We are going to tell my parents tomorrow. We got a bunch of scrapbook stuff related to babies and a baby-themed scrapbook. We put it in a box with a note that says, "Dear Gramma, will you make this for me? Love, Baby S." We are telling Todd's mom on Wednesday when we get to her house. She has an Italian Charm Bracelet and we got a few charms for Christmas. She had asked us to get her a Snoopy stuffed animal from Build-A-Bear, but we couldn't afford it. So Todd is going to say, "We're sorry, we couldn't get you the Snoopy, but we hope this will work as a substitute." And hand her a charm that says, "Promoted to Grandma." We also got my sister an ornament that is part of her collection. It is an "Aunt Angel" and says something about how family is fun. I can't wait to see their faces when they open the gifts.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

7 weeks 3 days

I had my second ultrasound today. Everything looks great! Baby was measuring well at 7 weeks 1-2 days. The heart was flicking away at 130 beats per minute. It is 1.07cm, which is about triple the size from last week when it was 0.35cm. It was the cutest little blob. It was hard to see, but I swear, it was hanging out with a little book in there or something. Okay that's silly, but it was really cute. <3

Thursday, December 1, 2011

6 weeks 3 days

The nurse called on Tuesday and said that Dr. S had decided that I should have the early ultrasound after all. So I went today after work. She had warned me that the tech wouldn't tell me anything and I would have to wait until the next day to hear the results from the Dr's office. I was supposed to be there by 5:30 but I got stuck in traffic. I called the radiology office and they said not to worry about running late because they were busy. There were about 10 other people waiting when I got there. I had been told that I needed to have a full bladder for part of the scan and I was about to burst after waiting over an hour! I ran to the bathroom and then chugged some more water to fill it back up. Shortly after I came back, they called me in.

When the tech started with the external ultrasound, I asked her, "I know they said you wouldn't be able to tell me anything, but can you show me if you see anything?" She said if I was patient, she would look. She couldn't find anything on the external scan so she did an internal scan. After a few minutes of digging around, she turned the screen toward me, pointed to a tiny flickering spot on it and said, "See that flickering spot? That's the baby's heartbeat!" I gasped and said, "Oh my god!" Then I said, "Hi!" to the baby. I felt like a dork, but I immediately fell in love with that little flickering heart. It all seems so real now. It's alive! I almost cried out of happiness.

Now to just keep that little heart beating for the next 8-ish months...

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Five weeks 6 days

Last Wednesday at 5 weeks 2 days, I had a third HCG level drawn. It was 1840! A great number for this stage! The nurse said she or another nurse from the office will call Friday or Monday to schedule an ultrasound. I told her that I have an appointment for a pap smear on Dec 8th that I scheduled 2 months ago and I was wondering if I could just make that into my first appointment. She said she will ask the doctor and let me know, but that they might be able to get me in for an ultrasound before then. While I would love to see the baby, I am worried that at 6 weeks, the baby will be too small to see anything. I have read that the heart usually starts beating this week and I really want to see that. If I go before it starts beating, it will really worry me that something is wrong. They didn't call Friday so when they call tomorrow, I will ask the nurse what she thinks I should do.

I also asked about taking a calcium supplement. I am concerned about taking one because they all have vitamin D. I take a vitamin D supplement already because I have a deficiency, and I don't want to take too much. The nurse said she's going to ask the doctor, but to try to find a prenatal vitamin with more calcium, since my current one only has 15%.

We just got back from spending Thanksgiving with Todd's mom. It was so hard to not tell her! But we discussed ways to tell her at Christmas and we are thinking about getting her an ornament that is grandma related, something like #1 Grandma, or I love Grandma. We also stopped by ACMoore and found a cute scrapbook for my mom. She does scrapbooking and we are planning to get her a bunch of baby-related scrapbook stuff. The book we found has a slot to put a picture so we will put the ultrasound picture there.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Four weeks Five Days

On November 11, 2011 (my dad's birthday), when I was 11 days past ovulation, I decided to test. My girls' from the TTC Trio (my trying-to-concieve buddies) said I should test because of all the elevens. So I woke up when Todd left for work and went and took 2 tests. After the 5 minutes I looked and the faintest of lines were showing on both tests!
I was so excited! I texted my best friend "I'm pregnant!" I tried to go back to bed, but I couldn't sleep, so I just laid there until my doctor's office opened. I called them and asked to come in and take a blood test. I went and took it and they called later and confirmed that I was pregnant but it was very early. I was only 3 weeks and 4 days pregnant.

I left work that day and I was thinking of ways to tell Todd. Suddenly, about halfway home, I REALLY had to pee! I tried to hold it until I got home but I knew that wouldn't happen. I stopped at a Dunkin Donuts and couldn't hold it anymore. I peed in the car! I was so ashamed and embarrassed. I came home and jumped in the shower. Todd came home just as I got out. He asked what was going on. I said I had to take a shower because I had peed myself. He asked why and I said "Because apparently that's what PREGNANT people do!" He gasped and started jumping up and down and hugging me.

Yesterday at 4 weeks 4 days, I went back for another blood draw. It came back much better this time at 305, a perfectly respectable number for that point. They want me to come back next Wednesday for one more blood draw. If it is over 1500, they will then schedule my first appointment and ultrasound.