Officially in the second trimester

Amazing.  I can't believe I'm here.  14 w 4 d and still going strong.

I had my regular O.B. appointment today to check my placenta.  Just like with E, the placenta is hanging out right over the cervix, so they're watching it to make sure it pulls up.

My B.P.   110/70 (awesome! - That's significant because I have a history of pregnancy hypertension, so they watch me just to make sure it stays in check.)

Baby (whose nickname may end up being "gumdrop") is measuring on target and moving around like crazy.  Those of you who have dopplers know that sound that sounds like a record scratching when the baby moves around while you're listening.  There's a lot of that going on in my house these days!  I'm still using the doppler only a couple of times a week, but just enough to keep me sane.

I had to repeat some bloodwork today because my last lab work came back with a trace of Rh antibody.  That is probably because I had a Rhogam shot already, but they're checking to make sure the level hasn't gone up.

I'm happy to report that my energy is slowly but surely returning, and my instances of morning sickness are few and far between.  YAY second trimester!

Next step is my amnio in a couple of weeks.  I think I'm more worried about scheduling a babysitter during it than actually having the amnio. 

Finally, with regard to telling certain people about the pregnancy, thanks for all of your support.  It hasn't been all rainbows and ponies.  I know there is anger, but hopefully they can find peace and realize that the pregnancy isn't to spite them or to prove anything.  It's simply to add another member to our family.

This is getting real

Holy shitballs.  I'll be 13 weeks on Saturday.

I had my nuchal scan this week.  This is when they start to look like an actual person.  Two arms, two legs, ribs, brain. Cool stuff.  The nuchal translucency was "within range" so one hurdle down.

Stats for the week:  (5/14/12)
HB: 153
Measuring: 12 w 1 day
My BP: 128/84  (not as low as I'd like, but I'll take it.)

I heard the words or acronym "AMA" (Advanced Maternal Age) no less than five times while I was there.  It's so funny to me that if I had been pregnant in February I would have been young, but now that I'm 35 I'm old.   Because I'm "AMA" I am offered an Amnio automatically (which we accepted) because the risk of a genetic disorder when you're AMA is higher than the risk of a miscarriage caused my amnio.  I just decided that I'd rather have the amnio up front than get the bloodwork, possibly have a high reading on something again, and then sweat bullets until the amnio.

I'm now at a point where we could start telling people, and honestly, it kind of sucks.  I haven't really gone into it too much on here because I try to keep my blog about me, and not about talking about other people.  However, there are a lot of people who are close to me (probably more than average) who are infertile, who have attempted various forms of family building through IVF, donors, etc, or who would have liked to have more children, but it hasn't worked out for various reasons.  Even though I'm ecstatic, I definitely feel the need to be a little reserved when I tell certain people because I don't want to tack additional pain onto their already difficult journeys.  Sooo...  the next few weeks are going to be interesting.

What's next

I've said before that I'm really much more relaxed about this pregnancy than my pregnancy with E.  I stopped my pro.gesterone on Saturday, when I was around 11 weeks, even though I would have felt better about continuing until 12 weeks.  (The R.E. said that I could stop then, plus, I hate that stuff.  UGH.  And I would like to stop feeling like my crotch is on fire from the constant yeast infection.  There's that too.)  So I stopped.

Yesterday, I had a small amount of brown discharge on my pantyliner, and just a hair of red.  I didn't freak out.  Instead, I thought, "oh good.  This might actually be some of the hematoma being flushed out now that it's not being held by the progeste.rone."  The timing was appropriate.  I called the R.E. and they concurred that it was not something to worry about.  They thought it might be vaginal lining that was flushed after the pro.gesterone left my system.  They said I don't need to start the pro.gesterone back up. 

My trusty doppler tells me that there's still a heartbeat, so I guess that makes it easier to not worry too much about the discharge.

I have my nu.chal scan next week, and I'm very nervous.  This pregnancy feels a little too easy somehow, and I'm worried that something could still go wrong.   It seems kind of crazy though, that after the nuch.al scan, I'll be moving into the second trimester...  Please send lots of positive thoughts and vibes for a healthy baby at my appointment!!

The tired

I had forgotten about the tired.  Or maybe the all-day-sickness was so all-consuming before that I maybe didn't have the chance to feel tired.  This time, I'm feeling nauseous every day for parts of the day, but I'm unfortunately NOT losing weight as I have with both of my other term pregnancies.  I am, however, feeling tired ALL THE TIME.  (Maybe the fact that I can hardly move because of the exhaustion is contributing to my weight gain.  Haha.)  I've only gained between two and three pounds, but with each other pregnancy I've lost about 5 in the first trimester because of the nausea.  I did start out lower this time though, so I guess that's good. 

But seriously? Ohhhhhhh the tired.  I've been taking naps.  NAPS people.  I don't take naps.  I can't fall asleep in the middle of day.  Except that now, I can.  Naps.  Thankfully E takes a 2 hour nap in the afternoon, and D is more than happy to watch a movie so I can take a nap.  Can't wait for that energy burst...

I'm still taking progeste.rone, so maybe that accounts for some of the tiredness.  I'm planning to stop taking that on Saturday when I'll be 11 weeks.  The R.E. who I saw told me to take it for three more weeks, which was until yesterday, but I'm going to keep going until the weekend just because it will make me feel better.  

I broke out the Doppler last week when I was 9 weeks 5 days (my latest miscarriage) and it took me a long time to find the heartbeat, but it was there.  I checked again this week, I think on Monday when I was 10w 2d.  Took a long time again, but I found it.  I freaking love that thing.  Best money spent, ever.  Hands down.

Now a bit of randomness.  Have any of you ever had one breast that was sore, but not the other?  Before I was even pregnant, I noticed that my left side was more tender/ sensitive than the right.  I've done several self exams and haven't felt anything unusual, but I'm thinking I'm going to run it by my OB.  It kind of freaks me out.

I have the nu.chal scan coming up in a couple weeks, and truthfully I'm pretty nervous about it.  On my second set of bloodwork with E, one of my results came back high and I ended up getting a Level II u/s and an amnio.  The fact that I'm older now, and officially "advanced maternal age" doesn't help those nerves.

I'm definitely more relaxed about this pregnancy than my pregnancy with E.  I don't obsess about every twinge I feel and I don't think about miscarriage all the time.  I guess that's an improvement, and once I'm not so tired maybe I'll have a little time to enjoy it. 

Same Feeling Every. Single. Time.

It seriously doesn't matter how many ultrasounds I have. I have the same feeling of impending doom every time. And thankfully, this time, once again, that feeling was unfounded.

I just found out a couple of days ago that the best man from our wedding, and my husband's best friend, just got engaged. So exciting, and he's asked T to be in the wedding. Only problem is that the wedding is in October. In Florida. A month before I'm due. :( I'm really bummed at the thought of missing it. It's also the weekend of T's birthday. Double bummer. So the only consolation I had at the thought of losing the baby was that at least I would be able to go to the wedding. Yes, an admittedly f*&%ed up thought, but if we're being honest...

Now to cut to the chase. My knockers are huge. (For me anyway.) I think they've grown about a cup size within the last two weeks. My morning sickness is still mild which is kind of amusing to me since it was awful with both D and E, so I can't use the old, "well, it must be a {insert gender} because I never had it with..." But seriously people, thank God. I was not looking forward to that part. I still feel yucky and slightly queasy almost every day, but NOTHING like D and E's pregnancies.

Update from the appointment today:

BP (post u/s): 110/70
Baby's measuring: 8 w 5 d
Baby's HB: 170 (!)
Hematoma: Still present, but not worrying the doctor all that much

I'm not going back again for almost four weeks, (until my 12 w nuchal screening) which would normally freak me out, except for the fact that I can pull out my little friend dopp.ler in about a week. If I can't get a hb for a few days, I'm going to call and ask to be seen.

Growing

I had an u/s with an R.E. yesterday (to whom I was sent by my regular O.B. as a precaution.) I've been kind of dreading the appointment, partly because T couldn't go with me because of bringing D to preschool and not wanting to bring kids to a fer.tility clinic, and partly because I honestly wasn't optimistic about still having a live baby in there this week. I've continued to have mild morning sickness, I've been tired a lot and my bo.obs are now bigger, but these symptoms are very mild compared to both of my other successful pregnancies. I know every pregnancy can be different, but it's really got me kind of paranoid. That coupled with the hemat.oma made me very pessimistic about the outcome of the u/s. Also, I'm performing in a musical this weekend (opening night is tomorrow) and I was SO paranoid that I was going to have to schedule a D&E today, on the day of the dress rehearsal, or worse yet, wait the whole weekend knowing it was dead.

To my surprise and joy, the baby is still in there, heart beating away, and growing like a champ. I didn't ask what the heartbeat was, but they said it sounded great. In addition, 8 days after the baby measured 6w 4d at my O.B.'s office, it measured about 8 weeks at the R.E.'s office. That puts me closer to my LMP. They looked at the hemat.oma (1 inch) and the R.E. said that he still thinks I have about an 85% chance of carrying to term. He told me to continue my progeste.rone for 3 more weeks, and he "released" me back to my regular O.B.

For the first time in this pregnancy, I'm allowing myself to feel a little optimistic...

One down

Only about 30 appointments to go...

There is a live baby in there. With a heartbeat. :)

Heartbeat: 126
Measuring: 6 weeks 4 Days
BP: 128/86 (not bad for before the u/s)

According to my LMP I should be 7 w 2 d, but because I'm sure I ovulated late, I think I'm only about 2 days behind where I would have expected to be (6 weeks 6 days).

The only bad news so far is that I do have a hematoma at the top of my uterus next to the gestational sac. I don't know how big. I didn't even ask. These things can resolve themselves, but I had one with one of my miscarriages so they make me very nervous. The doctor was cautiously optimistic, but he knows I've been around the block, so he didn't try to b.s. me. He just basically said that it can resolve on its own, and we'll hope for the best.

I got a Rh.ogam shot because of the hematoma, and the doctor told me to call the RE who prescribed my progeste.rone to see if he wants to do any tests. I'm hoping no, unless there's something else he wants to prescribe for me to make this baby stick.

Symptoms so far have been mild, but I've had a couple of bouts of monster heartburn in the past week, and most days for about the past week I've woken up with mild nausea until I eat.

Next appointment in a week.