NT Scan

Our NT Scan/1st Trimester Scan was last Thursday and it went great!

However, I think we already have a stubborn uncooperative child. I say that which much love though. :-) It will be entertaining!

Ultrasound went well, but the baby wouldn't get in the right position to get the measurement they needed for a good 40 minutes. They needed to measure a particular area on the back of the neck to measure the fluid there. It gave us more time to watch it wiggle around in there so that was fine. We got a wave as you'll see in the pictures. I think it was saying, "Hey guys looook at meeeee!"

Finally the tech had to bring the doctor in and he was able to get a measurement and it looked very good, just what they want to see. Best news is that the baby appears to be healthy and normal and growing. Yay!!!

The tech thinks its a girl, only because in her experience, the uncooperative ones usually turn out to be. I think its a girl because it seemed to be practicing ballet in there, it would jump up and do a little turn. Don't know where the dancing came from, mama has two left feet in that arena.

Anyway, I got the results yesterday and it came back negative, meaning we don't have an increased risk for Down's Syndrome or Trisomy 18 (I think that was what they tested). Sometimes they give you a number, but I didn't ask for any the specifics. No need to stress or overanalyze these results.

Anyway, my next appointment is on October 1, but its just a "normal" appointment. With these bladder infections, I've been bugging them so I've made it a goal to not have to call or go in until then. I guess we'll talk about getting the "big" ultrasound scheduled and I am VERY excited for that. We'll see how good my gut instinct really is....and if we'll have to scramble for a boy's name.

Either way, I'm just thrilled to be pregnant. There was a time there that I really doubted that I'd get to experience any of this....even if after I had the surgery that was going to supposedly fix everything. I also think this last time made it become a lot more real for Justin. He's been over the moon and so sweet and so excited about the baby ever since the scan. I think that because it "finally" looked like a real baby that cemented it for him.

Here are some pics of our little guy or girl!

12 Weeks, 2 Days

Nothing new to report, other than I think today, I am finally feeling better.

I went back to the doctor yesterday because I still had a fever and had a lot of back pain, plus my bladder STILL felt the size of an acorn. They didn't do anything other than insist the meds should work and told me to take the rest of the day off yesterday and take today off to lie around and drown myself drinking water. Oh and to call my urologist to "log" this one in my records with him (that I had 2 bladder infections in 3 weeks in the first trimester) and make sure he agrees with the treatment plan.

So, I have done as instructed. :-) It's been nice.

And, I am feeling better. Haven't had any "out of the ordinary" back pain and I've drank a lot of water.

Here's a belly pic from today:

NT Scan is Thursday morning and I have an appointment with my urologist Friday morning. Should be uneventful since I'm feeling better, but I'm following directions.

I hate my bladder

So this past Thursday morning, I woke up at about 2 am in excrutiating pain. All too familiar pain too, just like a UTI or bladder infection. I didn't get much sleep the rest of the morning, plus there was bright red blood when I wiped. I was freaking out.

Called the dr as soon as they opened, they had me come in first thing. Turns out, I have ANOTHER bladder infection. They pulled out the doppler and found the baby's hb right away, at 170 bpm just like the previous week. NP took a look up in there and there was no blood in my vag, nor any around my cervix and she poked and prodded it and nothing happened that wasn't supposed to. She thinks the blood was coming from my bladder.

Anyway, I took the rest of the day off to recoup some sleep time and to settle down since I was almost in tears in the morning. I have meds to clear up this second infection (in three weeks mind you) and am now placed on preventative (hopefully they work, fingers crossed!) meds for the duration of my pregnancy to try and not get any more.

It's weird, that I was fine for a few weeks and then BAM. They suspect its because of the way the ute is growing, that my bladder must be in a different spot and its hard to empty it in that position. I hope that it all gets rearranged to where it needs to be and that the meds work and I don't have to put up with this anymore. Can you believe it, I am pregnant, but I can still blame my ute for causing some problems. I'd say this is a good problem.....but....its a little tough to put this in the good category since its not very pleasant.

Anyway, in other "news", as of Thursday's doctor appointment I'm up 4 pounds. I'm dealing with headaches every.single.day. Our NT Scan is the 17th and I'm excited as to have another peek at the baby. I hope everything comes out fine, I'm not really worried, but I'm sure there's always a possibility. Current craving for the week is french fries. I don't really like french fries but they sound amazing. Any kind of french fries. I'm getting so close to being out of the first trimester, I'm really excited. I'm hoping the second trimester is as good as everyone says it is, considering that there is another human growing inside. This going to bed at 8-9 pm is really getting old. Poor Justin has been so bored.

I leave you with a belly pic from earlier this past week at 11 weeks, 2 days. I'm convinced already I'm going to be huge.

Maternity Pants!!

Well, normal pants got very uncomfortable for me last week. Sunday, we went shopping and got me some maternity pants and I think I might have found not only maternity pants, but pants I might just wear permanently. Hello no button and no zipper, I love you so!

These work pants I got feel like I'm wearing pajama pants that just happen to look like dress/work pants. I'm so in love.

Unfortunately, I dropped $550 and felt like I didn't get very much. I think its Old Navy.com from here on out. We only have 2 stores in the Austin area that carry the maternity line and the one I went to on Sunday was just garbage. Two racks basically. Not a big selection. I got 2 pairs of work pants (that I think are very nice and I really like them), a skirt for work, a really cute brown sweater dress (if fall ever comes here), a pair of Buffalo jeans, and 3 shirts. I think that's it. I've got some loose baggy fit shirts that should work for a while, but the way my midsection is expanding, I don't know how long I've got!

I did try on a huge "realistic" (as the sales lady said) bump that is what I might look like at 8-9 months and both Justin and I cringed. It was scary. I'm so short, it looked really awful. I hope it doesn't turn out like that.

I do miss my flat belly already. I feel like because this was sort of unexpected (yes, even though we were "ttc", I didn't think it would happen on its own), I didn't get to say goodbye. I was bloated when I got the BFP. Here's a pic from today, 10 weeks, 2 days.

I'm getting more comfortable with being pregnant and trying to worry less. I'm feeling a lot better than I was last week, thankfully. I'm just so ready to have this baby already. We went to visit our friend's newborn baby on Sunday and I didn't want to put him down. I'm more than ready for our very own little one. I think it made me more excited and if I already wanted to fast forward to March, its so much stronger now. I'm attempting to try to keep myself busy with worrying about other baby-related things--but good worrying--like thinking of names, looking at nursery pictures online, thinking about parenting scenarios, thinking of how to prepare the pups. I'm trying to enjoy this in-between time.

I have an appointment on Thursday, I'm not sure why, I guess its useful now as they need to see if my bladder infection has cleared up. I don't know if they're going to try to hear the heartbeat, my uterus is tilted backwards so everyone's been telling me to NOT expect to hear it early. I'm preparing myself to not be able to hear it yet, no need to stress more. It would be a pleasant surprise if we can though!

Pandas

I thought I'd take this opportunity of getting off work a little early to explain the panda in my sig on the Nest/Bump.

This little guy is Xi Lan. He lives at the Atlanta Zoo. We went to visit him in June.

He was about 10 months old at the time and look at him!!! So freakin' adorable. I was standing in the little viewing area snapping photos while one of the zoo volunteers was spouting information off about Giant Pandas. The thing that jumped out at me (and hit home) was that pandas can only get pregnant once a year and they have about a two day window to do so. ONCE A YEAR. Are you kidding me? That's worse than human chances...no wonder these cuties are majorly endangered. The good news is that it does happen for them. Little Xi Lan up there is proof, as is his older sister. (There also was a new panda born recently at the San Diego Zoo.)

I put him in my siggy, 1) because he is adorable and 2) that if pandas somehow manage to get knocked up with seemingly worse chances, dammit, so can us infertiles. He went up the week we got back from Atlanta, which was the week that the miracle cycle started. Call it coincidence, but I think he's my lucky charm.

I have a newfound respect and love for pandas! Giraffes and sharks used to have my heart, but pandas are right up there now. You might even see me with a new panda tattoo in a couple years. ;-)

9 Weeks and 2 Days

Sorry for slacking on the updates. I think I've hit the "feel like crap" stage of pregnancy. Overall, everything is fine and believe me, I am more than grateful to have symptoms.

I had some spotting on the 14th that really scared me. It was bright red drops when I would wipe, but luckily it seemed to end as quickly as it began. They still put me on pelvic rest for the weekend and had me come in first thing on Monday. I saw the nurse practioner, she took a look inside, and proclaimed that everything appeared to be fine and my cervix was closed as it should be. I've been spotting off and on since, but its been mere specks...nothing heavier or as bad as it was the first time I saw it. I've been trying not to stress about it, but regardless, I don't like to see it.

I had my first "official" OB appointment on Thursday, it was uneventful. They drew some blood, did another pee test (which was still positive) and ordered another ultrasound for the following day because of the spotting.

Here's a belly pic from last Thursday, 8 weeks and 4 days.

I think the nausea really kicked in last week. Most mornings I can't stand to drink water...usually not until 2 pm does it sound even remotely appealing. I think the nurse on Monday jinxed me because she asked about the nausea, which wasn't bad, and said, "Oh well if you haven't had much by now, you probably won't have much more!" Yeah. If that's not a jinx I don't know what is.

Anyway, the ultrasound Friday went wonderfully, we could see SOMETHING in there, something more than a blob!!! The baby's heartbeat was up to 180 bpm, a little over a week after it was at 153 bpm last ultrasound. And it's still growing! Here's some pictures:

Well, that's all I have energy to post today. I have my next appointment next Thursday (3rd) and I think I'm coming out to work next week! EEEEKKK!! :-)

Saw the Heartbeat!!!!

I had another ultrasound today as the doc wanted me to come back so they could better date the pregnancy. I saw the sac on the screen as soon as they reached it, it had definitely gotten bigger. We got to see a little flicker on screen and it was the most incredible thing. I could have watched it all day. It was measuring 153 bpm, which they said was about average for how far along I am.

I was measuring right at 7 weeks, 3 days, as previously thought based on my LMP, not a week behind anymore, which is great! I can be out of 1st Tri faster!

Not the greatest pic ever, but on-screen I could see it very clearly.

I've discovered that brushing my teeth is a bit of a challenge. I dry heaved over the sink the other morning, which was unpleasant. I've tried to be very careful since then about my technique and that seems to have helped. I'm varying degrees of nauseous in the mornings, I haven't thrown up yet though. It seems that when I get over the nausea hump, I seem to be incredibly hungry for just about anything and everything. Everything sounds delicious! It's created a bit of a dilemma trying to decide where to go for lunch. I'm worried I'm going to be that girl that gains 100 pounds. I'm already a little afraid to step on a scale. The good news is that I don't have a sweet tooth, so I'm not filling up on junk. My real craving lately has been a sausage, egg, and cheese McMuffin, which I haven't indulged yet, but by God I could have one now.

My biggest problem is just fatigue. I'm worn out from Roatan last week and we have company coming this weekend. I need to try to pick up the house, but I can't get off the couch tonight. I feel so lazy, but seriously, I can't function after I leave work.

I will leave you with a current belly pic. I am so bloated I have few pants that fit right now.



Happiness is the feeling you're feeling when you want to keep feeling it. ~Author Unknown