25w+5 - 3D scan

I'm so in love!!!  Here's our little guy.

He had his head tucked away in a corner of my uterus and there was loads of cord in the way of his face, so the sonographer did an awesome job of managing the get the shot.  He seemed apologetic that that was the best he could do.  I think it's amazing!!!!

I've got another appointment tomorrow with the OB so will be getting the full report on the scan as well.

19w+4 - It's a boy!!!

A catch up is definitely in order here!  Well a little while ago, I had a very minor bleed but got sent to the ER to have it checked out after it hadn't stopped after a few days.  I was put on total bed rest until it stopped, which took about a week and was very boring!  Ever since, everything's been just fine.

Our sonographer told us it was a boy at the scan I had at 13 weeks but at our last Ob visit, at 19 weeks, he confirmed that we are indeed having a boy.

My husband and I decided today to start measuring my bump.  So today (December 24th), at my widest, I'm 34 inches around.  I think normally I'm 26 or 28, something like that.

Anyway, wishing all a very Merry Christmas!!!

14w+1 - bleeds

I'm onto my third bleed this pregnancy.  The first one was a two day implantation bleed which was super exciting.  The second one was only a wipe after dtd with hubby so that didn't worry me.  And yesterday I'd been feeling a bit crampy on and off all day and around 9:30pm I went to the bathroom, not feeling well after having pizza for dinner, and I had some pink blood on the paper.  The sent my OB a text and he said nothing to worry about it, it happens, but to let him know about any more bleeds.  I woke up at 4am needing to wee and there was slightly heavier brown on the paper.  Thankfully this morning there was barely there pink, so hopefully it's on its way out, though I am slightly crampy this morning.  But I'm going to basically have a day in front of the tv with my feet up just to be sure.  As my husband said last night, there's no point in pushing myself and risking anything as it's been so hard just to get where we are.  I am so thankful for my Doppler though as I checked last night and this morning and baby's heart is still thumping away - I think I'd be completely freaking out if I didn't know.  Fingers crossed it is just one of those bleeds.  That said, last night was also the first time that my gums bled a little when I brushed my teeth before bed.  Maybe it's just my increased blood volume overflowing a bit.  haha.  It's scary though.

13w+5 - OB appointment

I had my first proper OB appointment today and I'm to have them monthly from now on.  He weighed me (shoes and all), took my blood pressure & had a quick look at baby.  Our wee man was still wriggling and jumping around and the Dr showed me baby's little man bits.  The Dr was really happy with the results of my scan and said that everything was looking really good.  He also gave me a new multivitamin to replace the current British multivitamin and the separate 5mg of folic acid that I'm taking.  This new one's got 1mg of folic acid and 150mg of iron, which is great because I'm soooo sleepy all the time.

13w+2 - NT scan

Ooops, I meant to post this on Saturday.  I was really nervous about this scan in case there was something wrong, but the Dr measured absolutely everything and everything is well within the normal ranges. He said at my age you start out with about a 1 in 170 chance of a baby with Downs but with my results it's going to be way better than that. So a big huge sigh of relief and oh it was just such an amazing scan. Baby looks like a proper person now and was sooooo active, we were in there for ages trying to get baby in the right position for all the measurements but baby was doing lots of turning and jumping and just jiggling around, it was actually quite funny, even the Dr was laughing at one point. And... it's a boy! Something about the angle of the pelvis, and the Dr was super sure about it. I said from right at the beginning that I just had a feeling in my gut that it was a boy, and there you go.  He's also measuring in at 13w+5 which would bring his due date to May 13th, but babies never come when they're meant to so I'm just saying he's coming sometime in mid May. So my report says my age risk of having a Downs baby is 1/111 but taking the scan measurements into account that takes it to 1/480, which takes me out of the high risk category.  Hubby and I are soooo relieved.  Oh and baby's head is measuring in at 14w+3 which we find hilarious as hubby and I both have pretty big heads, so it was kind of inevitable. lol This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 960x640.

11w+6 - I felt something today

This morning before I got out of bed, I put my hands on my tummy and I'm pretty sure I felt my uterus sticking out a bit.  It was firm and in the same area where I hear baby's heart with the doppler.  My trousers now don't do up and I'm having to wear my belly band and the only thing that's really comfortable are my trackies at the moment.  I've got my scan at 12w+2 so I'm also going to pop into a maternity clothes shop that's nearby while I'm there and see if I can get some jeans and leggings with a more comfortable waist!

11 weeks - cravings

Yay - we've made it to 11 weeks.  9 days to go till the next scan.  I have to admit that I'm nervous about it in case my risk level for Down's or another defect is not good.  Obviously there's nothing I can do about it but I would really like to come away from that scan with a light heart rather than with concerns about what to do next.

Today I started feeling a little queasy after breakfast and I was thinking through what I could eat to make me feel better.  Everything I thought of made my stomach turn until I thought of salami and hotdogs!  So all well cooked obviously but I'm feeling good again.  Soooo weird, but so nice obviously.

10w+6 - tests

This is the day that we went for that awful scan with the last pregnancy where we found out that the baby's heart wasn't beating any more.  However, I am very pleased to say that I've just had a listen with the doppler and this baby's heart is happily thumping away! Yay!

So anyway, I'm just back from my first lot of blood and urine tests.  It's so backward here sometimes it's almost funny.   Now normally when I've gone for blood tests, they stick the needle in and then pop on and off the different vials that they're going to use for the tests and the blood just comes out at its own rate.  Not in the place I had to go to today, I got my blood sucked out with a big syringe, I cold feel it coming out and it felt really weird!  Then for the urine tests normally you're just given a cup and told to pee in it, or with some instructions on how to clean yourself first and how not to contaminate the sample.  Oh no, not here, I had to have my feet up in stirrups for this.  She cleaned me and then told me to pee while I was lying down.  For me, that is impossible!  Even after my embryo transfer when I did my IVF and I was absolutely bursting for a wee, I couldn't relax myself enough to use the bed pan, even when they left me alone.  There's no way I was going to manage to wee with my legs in stirrups and some random woman holding a cup up against me!  I argued enough that she eventually agreed to let me wee in the cup in the normal way, thought she did put a bit of cotton up me so as no potential discharge could contaminate the urine sample.  Oh my word!  Anyway, results will be ready on Friday.

10w + 4 - a good milestone

It was at 10w+2 or 3 that baby's heart stopped beating last pregnancy. I've just had another listen on the Doppler & the little heart is still going strong. I'm so happy to be passed that point. 10w+6 is when we found out last time so I'll be really pleased when we get to 11 weeks. Fingers crossed!

10 weeks - doppler arrived & found heartbeat!

Well my doppler arrived today and I managed to find baby's heartbeat - a nice strong 180bpm!  I hadn't realised how relieved I was to hear it until happy tears started streaming down my face.  The first thing I did was email the sound file to my husband so he can enjoy this moment too.  I'm absolutely over the moon!

9w+5 - jeans don't do up any more

I've just admitted to myself that as of today I officially can no longer do up my jeans and still feel even vaguely comfortable.  I've been doing the whole elastic band around the buttons thing but now the zip is feel restrictive.  It's just okay if I'm standing up, but sitting down is a whole different story!  So the belly band is getting used for the first time today.

9w+2 - ordered a doppler

I've given in and ordered a Sonoline-b 3Mhz fetal doppler.  Hopefully it should be arriving sometime next week.  Sometime between now and 11 weeks is when our last baby's heart stopped beating so I'm really hoping that we're going to get some reassurance from this thing.  But I have to remember to not freak out if I dont' hear anything as it may simply be too early.

Had terrible nausea all day yesterday.  Only times I felt ok were when I was lying down or fast asleep.  Today seems to not be too bad, but then again I am lying on the sofa!

9 weeks - scan no. 3

I'm just back from having my 9 week scan. Baby's still measuring just fine and I saw its little heart beating away but this Dr didn't measure the rate. I wish he had, but from what I saw it looked nice and strong. Next scan is probably going to be November 3rd now. That's the one I'm really scared about, and if all is still okay then, then I'll start to breathe easier. Anyway, here's our little baby bear, unfortunately he only took one photo and it didn't come out very clear, you can only see one of the crosshairs for the measurement. I'm not very good at seeing what's what at the best of times, but I think baby's got its back to us and the head end is on the left???

8w+6 - nausea is toying with me

Three days ago it was like a fog lifted and my nausea was back down to just a mildly annoying level. Prior to that for about a week and a half it has been debilitating and pretty much all consuming. I have yet to actually be sick but it's take a very strong will at times to not allow myself to be sick. I naively thought being at nearly 9 weeks that maybe I was out of the woods. But no such luck, I'm feeling pretty awful right now.

Tomorrow I've got another scan, so another anxious wait, hoping & praying that that little heartbeat is still going to be there. Fingers crossed!

8w+2 - fighting fatigue

Today's the first day in a while that I haven't had 'morning' sickness. So I finally feel like doing things & being more active. But doing anything is so draining, it feels ridiculous & to be honest, just a tad pathetic. But I'm trying to listen to my body. So for example today I washed my hair, and then had to lie down and rest, cooked dinner and had to lie down & rest, did the washing up and you guessed it, had to lie down and rest. It's hard work trying to be even vaguely productive and really quite debilitating. And I have been lying here being oh so grateful that I live the life I lead and that my wonderful husband works as hard as he does so that I don't have to. I honestly don't know how I would manage having to go to work at the moment.

7w+5 - oh the morning sickness

Ohhhhh, this is the worst I've felt so far, by far! I've spent most of this evening willing myself not to throw up. I'm reminded of when my husband and I both came down with a terrible stomach bug and at one point when we were both not throwing up and were actually lying in bed together we both burst out laughing, in a very weak, pathetic way mind you, because we realised how funny we most look & sound as we were both lying there moaning & groaning as we felt so awful. Well that's just what I'm doing right now. Ugh!

But I've also said to baby to just crack on with whatever s/he needs to do. I'll survive. haha

7w+3 - no need for progesterone support

So I like that Dr even less now.  I have to admit to having been a bit freaked out after yesterday when he said that I might need to go on progesterone support.  Obviously my mind immediately went to worrying that I wouldn't be able to maintain this pregnancy and what if it became a problem before my RE got back to me, etc etc.  This may have also had something to do with my bad mood yesterday.  I also woke up the morning with a horrible feeling that something was wrong, something had changed and it was wrong.  I'm still feeling a bit weird about that now.  I'm hoping it was all just how my feelings from yesterday manifested themselves and not something more sinister.  I guess that sort of thing really freaks me out now because right around the time that our baby girl's heart must have stopped beating, I had the most vivid dream that I was looking at her and I saw her heart just stop.  At the time I didn't bother to say anything because I thought it was just a dream and didn't really think more about it until we found out that her heart had stopped.  Anyway, I'm hoping that awful feeling this morning was nothing.  I can't do anything except cross my fingers.

But onto the good news.  My RE (bare in mind, he's the best in the country) just emailed me back and simply said that the cyst is the corpus luteum and it's totally normal.  WTF?!  What on earth was the other Dr doing freaking me out like that yesterday?!  I am definitely not going back to see him again.  But for now, I can relax, all is fine and my body is doing just what it's meant to do, there's nothing wrong. (And I've just had a big, hormonal, relieved cry.)

So tomorrow I should get my report and then I can just look forward to my next scan, and keep my fingers crossed that that horrible feeling was only to do with not enjoying yesterday.

7w+2 - scan no.2

Well I really didn't like this Dr that I went to see today.  When I went in, he shook my hand, but while he was talking over me head to his secretary and calling her weird.  Then there was no privacy for taking my trousers and undies off, nor was I given anything to cover up with.  Now I know they've seen it all a million times before but this is the first time I've been anywhere where they don't allow you any modesty.  Then his printer was broken so I won't get my report until Monday and he also wouldn't let me take my photos with me.  Oh and to top it off, although there were only 2 other people in front of me when I arrived, I was kept waiting almost 2 hours until I was seen.  I was so wound up by it all and all hormonal that I didn't really get to enjoy my scan and I've wanted to have a good cry because of it all day.  I'm so glad that the student Dr I saw last time gave me another recommendation for a Dr to see.

So anyway, all of that to one side, all is well with baby.  S/he (I've got this niggle in the back of my head that it's a boy) is measuring 7w+3 and there was a heartbeat of 145bpm.  So all good.  But the Dr. did have a look at my ovarian cyst and suggested that I ask my RE about going onto progesterone support.  I think it's got something to do with the cyst having the potential to block my natural progesterone production, which is obviously essential to maintaining the pregnancy.  So I've emailed my RE and we'll see what he says.  But for now, all is good.

So here's the latest pic of our baby bear:

6w+1 - morning sickness

It's more like queasiness but for the first time it's been on & off all day. I'm not enjoying it but if we end up with a beautiful baby at the end of this, then I'm loving every minute of it!

And today I was briefly treated to this unusual rainbow that appeared through the morning mist. I'm taking it as a good omen for our rainbow baby.

6 weeks - Introducing our baby bear

This morning just before I got in the shower, I sent a text to this doctor that my RE had recommended asking if he'd be able to do my scan today, tomorrow or Saturday. When I got out of the shower I checked my phone to see if there had been a reply. He'd called, so I called him back. He said he was just about to leave town to head back to the city but if I could get to the local clinic NOW he'd be able to see me. Of course I said yes & then proceeded to throw on my clothes, grab my bag & run out the door. By the time I got there my hands were shaking!

It turns out that he's a fairly recently qualified doctor doing his internship with my RE! He happens to live in the same town as me & my RE knew that he'd be in town visiting family. Poor guy kinda had to do that scan or his mentor wouldn't have been very impressed with this work ethic if my RE's is anything to go by!

Anyway, he was lovely & made me feel totally at ease. And there I saw it, our little baby bear measuring in at exactly 6 weeks and I could see its little heart beating away at 109 bpm. That's better than last time were baby was measuring 6w+3 and had a heart rate of 100 bpm, so I'm happy. This doctor said it's fine because it's wee heart has only just started beating and it should start to speed up soon. He said when it's around 60 or 70 bpm at this stage that they're not happy.

We had a giggle too because due to the date of my last period, technically I should be 5w+4. But because I was charting, I knew I ovulated early & I told him I thought I should be exactly 6 weeks. He gave a sort of knowing smile like, yeah okay. And when he went to measure he said, so this should come up as 5w+4 and it came out at exactly 6 weeks. Of course I had to laugh and say, ha ha! see!

So here s/he is... introducing our tiny little baby bear.