I saw the bean! My first prenatal exam went well today, it was honestly the best birthday present I could have gotten. After doing a bunch of paperwork the doctor did a quick internal examination (I had just had a pap smear in Februrary so luckily he didn't need to repeat that) and said my uterus felt right for 9 weeks 1 day, which is what we had estimated based on my LMP. Then he did the transvaginal ultrasound, which I have been so nervous about for weeks. He saw the baby immediately and it was right where it should be. My husband and I got to see the little bugger too, and he/she was kicking its legs around, very active! We could also see the heart beating as quick pulses of light. The doctor said everything looks healthy and normal for this stage and he printed some photos for us (which I'm posting in the photo album) and sent us on our way).
I had to have some more bloodwork done to test for a few genetic illnesses, and we'll have to decide whether to have even more done in 2 weeks. That test could be an early indicator for Down's Syndrome, and would be accompanied by a higher resolution ultrasound to measure the baby's neck. My husband and I need to discuss all these things and figure out which tests we really want to have done.
I'm on cloud 9 right now and we're going to go out to dinner to celebrate my birthday and the first major milestone for our little bean!
2006-05-08 (9 weeks)
First Prenatal Tomorrow It's been a long weekend and an even longer day at work today, but I'm finally home and looking forward to my prenatal exam tomorrow morning. I'm excited and nervous and nauseous (of course) all at once. It's also my birthday, so the results of the ultrasound will either make or break my day. I'm feeling optimistic and my family and friends have been supportive, so I think everything will go well. My husband is going to be with me too, and I hope we'll get our first view of the little bean!
2006-05-03 (8 weeks)
Belly is Growing It seems like it gets bigger throughout the day and is smaller when I wake up in the AM. A lot of it is bloat, I'm sure, but it's still weird and takes some adjustment. I ended up not getting any new clothes last weekend - I'm trying to get a couple of more weeks out of the ones I've got through the use of the rubber band trick and creative positioning. I think this coming weekend I'll pick up a few pairs of pants and skirts a couple of sizes larger than I normally wear and see if those will last a while.
I've been a little obsessive in thinking about and researching miscarriage. I guess this is a normal fear of every pregnant woman, but it still bothers me that I'm thinking about it so much - yet I can't stop. I realize there's nothing I can do, and I have to wait until Tuesday to find out if everything is OK with the bean (when hopefully the ultrasound will show everything is in place and the little bugger has good heartbeat). It's SO hard to wait though, and I feel rather helpless in the meantime.
I did pick up a few baby items over the weekend, and that was fun. I figured it would pick up my spirits and shed a positive light on this wonderful experience, and it did. Now I just have to make it to Tuesday...
2006-04-27 (7 weeks)
More Bloodwork I spoke to my new obsetrician (by phone) and got a message from my rheumatologist yesterday. Everything is basically OK with my bloodwork so far, so that's good. The obstetrician did tell me that my APL puts me at a risk for miscarriage AFTER the first trimester. So I have the normal risk that most women face during the early days, then my blood factor risk basically continues throughout the pregnancy. I'm really trying not to stress out over this but it's not easy. As I've learned from reading other entries here, nearly all pregnant women worry anyway, and I feel like I've got some added things to stress about on top of that.
I'm trying to remain positive though, and my mother has been really great about helping with that. She is convinced everything will go normally and as planned with the pregnancy. She has the same blood factor as me and she never had a miscarriage, so I've got that in my favor anyway.
I'm going to get more bloodwork tomorrow to check for normal pregnancy stuff. I also found out they'll do a transvaginal ultrasound on my first visit on May 9, so if all goes well with that I'll feel much better about things. This weekend I'm going to pick up a few maternity items and maybe do a little baby shopping. I've avoided it so far but I think it will help with the positive outlook thing.
