We had our first ultrasound on 3/17.  The Dr. had told me that there wouldn't be much we could see since I was only 6 wks along, and we wouldn't be able to hear a heartbeat for a few more weeks.. so that's what we went in expecting.

The Dr. was right as far as not seeing much.. as you can see, it's just a small blob  :)  The ultrasound tech said it's about the size of a grain of rice.  The suprising part of the appointment is when we all of a sudden heard a strong heartbeat!!!  I teared up, it was the best sound ever.

My official due date is November 6, 2008.  My next appt is 4/17 and I told Kenna she can come with us and while I won't have another ultrasound until 20 weeks, hopefully they'll have the doppler so we can hear the heartbeat again.

I get weekly emails from baby center.. here's what they say about  what's happened so far... they grow so fast!  Now that you're all caught up, I'll make at least weekly entries about my pregnancy, thoughts, feelings, etc...

5 weeks:  Your baby is about the size of a sesame seed, and he looks more like a tiny tadpole than a human. The big development this week: Your baby's brain is beginning to grow! It develops from the neural tube, a structure that will also spawn your baby's spinal cord, nerves, and backbone. Since folic acid helps prevent neural tube defects such as spina bifida, you can see why it's so important to take it while trying to conceive and early in pregnancy. In the meantime, the primitive placenta and umbilical cord, which deliver nourishment and oxygen to your baby, are already on the job.

6 weeks: This week's major developments: The nose, mouth, and ears that you'll spend so much time kissing in eight months are beginning to take shape. If you could see into your uterus, you'd find an oversize head and dark spots where your baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. His emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and his arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute almost twice as fast as yours and blood is beginning to course through his body. His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, your baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a lentil bean.

7 weeks:  The big news this week: Hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs although they look more like paddles at this point than the tiny, pudgy extremities you're daydreaming about holding and tickling. Technically, your baby is still considered an embryo and has something of a small tail, which is an extension of her tailbone. The tail will disappear within a few weeks, but that's the only thing getting smaller. Your baby has doubled in size since last week and now measures half an inch long, about the size of a blueberry.

8 weeks:  Your baby is now 5/8 of an inch long, about the size of a kidney bean. New this week: Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. His arms have lengthened, too, and his hands are now flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart. His knee joints have formed, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways.

9 weeks:  Your new resident is nearly an inch long about the size of a grape and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks.

What a miracle babies are!!

March 8th - We weren't going to tell anyone else until my mom got into town, so that she could be the first to know, but we decided we better tell McKenna, Dave and Pam (Brandon's parents), since I was starting in on the morning sickness.  Those are 3 people I can't hide it from...  I got very nauseas and smells were bothering me, bad!!

We told Kenna that Saturday afternoon and swore her to secrecy until further notice  :)  She was so excited!!  She's finally going to be a big sister!!!  She's going to be a great helper.. we may have to set the guidelines so she doesn't think she's the mom, rather than the big sister  :)

That night, we invited Dave and Pam to meet us for dinner at Chili's.  Brandon told them (he's so creative!) that he wanted their thoughts, opinion and support on a new job offer he had been given.  He explained that it would involve several months of training, then once he started it would be a lot of late nights and shift work..  then followed up with "Jen and I are having a baby"  I think his parent's about fell out of their chairs!!  It was fantastic.

The next day, Pam invited all the siblings to their house for lunch and we told all of them also.  Kenna was itching to tell someone, so we let her be the one to tell everyone that she was finally going to be a big sister.  She said, "My mom and dad are getting me something in a few months....  a baby brother or sister!"

My mom came into town March 19th, so we took her to dinner that night for her birthday.  We gave her the book "Guess How Much I Love You" with a note inside asking her to reat that to our baby when he or she gets here in November.  We also gave her a copy of the ultrasound picture we had done 2 days earlier.  She cried and I felt really bad.  She's excited for us, but sad we're so far away.

I found a really cute iron-on that said "I'm going to be a big sister!" and made her a t-shirt so I could take her picture in it and send it to everyone in Utah on a photo card to spread the news.  I figured that was more fun and creative than just a phone call.

2/28/08 - I went in for a check-in with my OB to talk about detailed results of infertility tests and talk about other options.. the next step would be to put me on Chlomid.  While the nurse was asking me all the questions before seeing the Dr I mentioned to her that my period should have come that day, but hadn't yet.. and I hadn't had any symptoms of starting soon.  So she said she doubts it's anything but they'd do a test anyway.  So, I stepped into the bathroom and did my thing, then went into the exam room to wait for the Dr.  The nurse came in and said the test was negative.  I was ok - I'm used to disappointment by now.

So, the Dr. came in, and the nurse was behind him and just started screaming "IT'S A FALSE POSITIVE!!!  YOU'RE PREGNANT!!!!"  I must've gone into shock or something because all I could muster is "What?  What is she talking about?"  So they explained to me that they had the whole office gathered around my test to make sure she wasn't the only one who could see a very faint 2nd line...  she said you can barely see it, but it's there.  They wanted to do a blood test to confirm, so they did - but we wouldn't have the results for 24 hours, so I had to go home and wait... which everyone knows I'm no good at!  Oh... and I almost forgot, I wasn't telling Brandon yet!  That was the hardest part.

So on Friday the 29th, I took a home test of my own (I didn't even have the patience to wait for the blood test at this point)...  IT WAS POSITIVE!!  I don't even know how long I stood there and stared at it in total shock.   It was finally happening, after almost a year and a half!!

Anyway, the reason I hadn't told Brandon the day before is because I had this hair-brained idea to do something cute to break the news to him - like fill one of is drawers with diapers and a note saying "it's time to make room for a baby", or something like that.  Well....  I couldn't wait!  So, as he was getting ready that Friday morning, I took the positive test and lay it on the bathroom counter next to his phone and everything he'd be grabbing before he left.  It didn't take long before he came over and sat on the toilet lid to put his shoes on, when he looked over and saw the results of the test.  He did a double take, I think he was pretty shocked, all he could muster was "Are you freaking serious!?!?"  As if I could fake that  :)  He gave me the biggest, tightest hug ever.. we were both so excited.  Then, him having to make light of everything, said "We're not broken!"

This was going to be the longest pregnancy ever... We found out at *barely* 4 weeks.

Ok... so I'm doing a bit of catch up as far as this journal goes...

We had been trying to get pregnant since Oct 2006 but had had no luck.  So, I went to my Dr. in January of 2008 to talk about infertility.  We started on the testing right away. 

Brandon had to give a semen sample (what I assume to be every man's worst nightmare).  Then on 2/8/08 I went in for a Hysterosalpingogram (HSG) - that's a procedure that has to be done in the hospital and is pretty uncomfortable.  They do an xray of reproductive organs while injecting dye into my tubes to see if there are any blockages.  Several Dr's and others who have had this done said that a lot of times, if you don't have any major tube blockages, the dye will just clean out your tubes and allow you to get pregnant, hopefully within a few month.  There weren't any blockages, so that was good news. 

The next step was a pelvic ultrasound to check my ovaries and uterus and everything - that was done on 2/19 - and everything looked normal.  So, I made my follow up appt with my Dr.