Recap Up to This Point

I've heard that famously first pregnancies get all the glory and attention, and then no one cares every pregnancy after that. Haha! But a sweet friend asked me if I was going to blog about this time around, so I'll do it! So that way, this baby will have a good record about his/her pregnancy as well.

I found out I was pregnant on Saturday, April 3, 2010. We were in Chicago visiting my sister and her family. I knew that we'd be visiting them during the time I'd be able to find out, so I packed a few pregnancy tests. It was THE faintest line in the world... I seriously didn't know if it was there or not, but deep down I knew it was. It was even fainter than Kate's first test line!



I kept it to myself for the day, but told Jeff that I THINK I may have gotten a positive. We decided to try again the next morning with a digital test because there would be no mistaking that! So Easter Sunday morning, we got up and tested. We brought Kate into the room and waited while the hourglass on the test blinked FOREVER, then finally said, "PREGNANT" YAY!!!!


We told Kate she was going to be a big sister! She, of course, had no opinion other than reacting to our excitement, being 23 months old. :)

We sent Kate upstairs to breakfast wearing her "Big Sister" shirt. (Yes, that I had packed in advance, "just in case.") (I had a feeling about this month!)



Andrea and Steve totally didn't see it at first, and we had to specifically point it out to get them to notice. :) They were shocked and excited!

I had been on Metformin again for about a month, getting my body ready to try to get pregnant again. We were thinking it may take a few months to get my body fully cooperating again. The first month was a dud with no ovulation, but I had a clear ovulation the second month! We weren't expecting it to happen so quickly, but are absolutely thrilled that it did, since we had to try so long to get Kate.

The first few weeks of pregnancy, let's see, where to begin... As soon as we were home from Chicago, my doctor brought me in for some blood tests. My levels came back pretty low, but still a positive result. We tested every 48 for about the next week or so. My levels were doubling appropriately, but then I got a call that my progesterone levels were dangerously low, and falling. (As in, not high enough to sustain a pregnancy.) They called in a prescription for me, and told me to go wait AT the pharmacy for it to be ready, and take my first dose as soon as it was ready! Through the following week or so, (I think we're at week 5 or 6 at this point?) they continued to test my progesterone levels, getting bad results each time. They doubled my dosage, and the following week they finally started to rise. Not to wonderful levels, but acceptable. They want your progesterone to be a MINIMUM of 15 during pregnancy, and at my lowest I was at 3.9. I leveled off at 14.9, though my most recent level taken was 12.1.

They scheduled an ultrasound for 6 weeks, to take a look and see how things were going in there. I knew that at Kate's 6w4d ultrasound, we had seen not only her, but her heartbeat. I didn't expect to see a heartbeat (though it was possible) but I certainly expected to see the baby, aka the fetal pole as it is termed at this stage. We saw hardly anything. We could see the gestational sac as well as the yolk sac, but no fetal pole, and certainly no heartbeat.



I was scared to death. They told me that it was not great but ok - I could just not be as far along as I calculated. Well I knew that wasn't a possibility - because of my charting, testing, and tracking, I know with 100% certainty which day I ovulated. They also said the fetal pole could be hiding behind the yolk sac. They wanted to wait 10 days and repeat the ultrasound. They said that would be more than enough time to be able to see on ultrasound whether or not the baby was growing.

Several days later, I started spotting. I tried not to think about it too much, since I had spotted with Kate too and she was perfectly fine. All I knew was that as long as you're not seeing red blood, everything was ok.

The next morning I woke up to red blood. I was sure I was losing the baby. Of course it was a Saturday morning so I couldn't call in to my doctor. Thankfully the bleeding stopped that morning and never came back. When I spoke to the doctor on Monday they were very understanding reassuring, and told me they would bring me in for an ultrasound if I wanted, but told me it would still be best to wait until that Friday for my original scheduled ultrasound. I was feeling ok about it at that point, so I agreed.

Friday morning we went in for the ultrasound. I immediately knew the baby was at least growing as soon as I saw the screen.



There was CLEARLY a baby there! Then the tech found the heartbeat (137 bpm), and I started crying. I was trying to be positive the whole week, but I had really tried to prepare myself for the possibility the heartbeat may not be there. But it was. Praise the Lord.

So that about wraps up the drama - from about week 7 or 8, things have been pretty smooth. God taught me a lot about patience and trust in that time. So much is completely out of our control, and our children belong to the Lord anyway, so I just prayed that this one would be given to us as well.

I had another ultrasound at 9w2d to make sure everything was still going well, and it was!



Measuring right on schedule with my December 15 due date. His or her heart was beating away at 170 bpm.

This pregnancy is somewhat different than Kate's already. I think in general, I'm sicker. With Kate I had nausea come and go sporadically. This time, there are several time periods during the day when I feel awful, and it peaks at its worst from 4-8 pm. I haven't hardly eaten dinner in about 7 weeks!

Here is my first belly picture taken at 10 weeks.



With Kate's pregnancy, I looked like that at about 14-16 weeks. Haha.

I had my 11 week appointment today. Everything is going well! I had lost 4 pounds since my last appointment 2 weeks ago (totaling almost 15 pounds for the pregnancy so far) so my doctor told me to EAT! Whenever and whatever I want. :) That's always fun to hear. Too bad I'm feeling too sick to actually follow through! We also heard the baby's heartbeat through my tummy on the doppler for the first time. My doctor said the baby was playing hide and seek with him - it took him a few minutes to find it, but he finally pinned him/her down and got it. :) He said he could hear the baby swimming around in there to get away! I'm always amazed and how aware and able-bodied they are in there at such an early age.

So I think that about wraps up the first trimester! I still have a few weeks to go before I officially begin the second trimester. I have started the weaning process on the Metformin (YAY!!!!!!!!!) so I really should be feeling better soon. Plus I have about a week left of Prometrium, my progesterone supplement. That is also known to make you feel sick. So I should feel like a new woman in the next few weeks. I can't wait!

We are so thankful for this baby and this pregnancy.