Ultrasound - 8 Weeks

Appointment at Northside - Atlanta Perinatal Consultants

Well before I get into today's excursion, let me tell you about yesterday. I was at work and everything was pretty normal. I didn't feel great but I wasn't throwing up either. After lunch I went to the bathroom and I had some long stringy discharge mixed with blood, so of course I freaked out. I called my doctor and talked to her nurse and told her what was going on. She said that as long as I wasn't bleeding a lot then they weren't too concerned. But she did say that if it got worse then call back and they'd see if they could get me in earlier than Wednesday. So after work I went home and went vertical until 4am this morning when I got up to pee. That being said, getting good sleep was not in the cards obviously. I kept preparing myself for the worst at my appointment today. I was so afraid that we were going to go in there and there wasn't going to be heartbeat or my baby would be gone altogether. Scary stuff the mind wraps itself around...

Anyway, I got up about 9:30 to get ready. We head out to Atlanta at about 11am and got to the hospital a little after noon. We had to go through admissions and they got me in the system and all that good insurance-y stuff. Our appointment was at 1pm. They call us back at around 1:15 (typical...) and we go into the ultrasound room. Then we got to see our precious little baby, WITH A HEARTBEAT! It was 150bpm, the sonographer said that it was excellent and everything looked great. She was having some trouble looking at my left ovary though, so after she did the vaginal probe, she switched to the one for the tummy. Found it with that one. (Thank god cuz the poking around in the nether regions is not the most comfortable thing to sit through.) After the ultrasound we went in to meet the doctor that I'd be seeing.

He wasn't the most warm and friendly guy, but his 2 dozen framed diplomas (from 4 different universities) and other certificates and board organizations more than made up for it. Basically I had to tell him everything from beginning to end about my last pregnancy, family history, life story, etc. He said that he's read through all of my files and notes, and said my cervix looked good on the ultrasound so far. He said that normally people who have incompetent cervix don't contract before losing the baby (which I did). They'll start bleeding and then all of the sudden the water bad will be in their vagina. But if I did in fact have any opening of the cervix then that would have allowed for infection to get in and cause my body to go into premature labor. So he recommended two different routes that we could take and I get to pick which I want to go with.

Option 1: Aggressive - put the stitch in no matter what my cervix looks like at 14 weeks and take it out at 36 weeks.

Pros:

• A lot of women just want to do it and get it over with and not have to worry about it again until time to deliver.
• No chance of missing the problem.

Cons:

• The procedure can be painful.
• Can't change your mind, once it's in, it's in and won't come out until 36 weeks.
• Could cause an infection.
• Sometimes the tissue grows around it, resulting in C-section delivery and then the stitches will have to be surgically removed after delivery. (AKA more hospital time and healing time)

Option 2: Pro-active - continue to monitor my cervix by ultrasound and exams, alternating weeks with the Specialist and my regular OB/GYN. (So basically I'd be seeing a doctor every single week.)

Pros:

• Will only get a stitch if a problem arises and they deem it necessary to go ahead with the procedure.
• I will have a lot of personalized care on a weekly basis (instead of just being stitched up and sent home - "take 2 of these and call me in 28 weeks...")
• I get to see my bean every week!
• If no problems arise then I don't need an unnecessary procedure, and subsequently an unnecessary surgery to remove them.
• They can put a stitch in at any time up until 36 weeks.

Cons:

• If a problem does arise then it may not be caught in time. (Though I will not hesitate to take my hiney into the ER and demand to be seen if something comes up.)
• I'll probably have to pay out the ass for ultrasounds and doctors visits. At least I have good insurance...

So that's the deal... I didn't have to choose today which I wanted to go with. He told us to go home and think about which "plan" was right for us. I have an appointment with him again in 3 weeks, October 7th. He said after I pass the point where the percentage for miscarriage is lower then he can start seeing me regularly, which is 11/12 weeks. So I'll be exactly 11 weeks when I see him again. Though I have an appointment tomorrow with my regular OB/GYN office with my midwife. I'm pretty happy with the way it all went today and the fact that we do have options to meet our needs. I'm pretty sure I'll have another ultrasound tomorrow, so I'm pretty excited about that.

I'm just so happy about seeing that little heartbeat flickering away on the screen. It makes every single thing I have to go through entirely worth it. I will try to calm down and not stress about bad dreams and weird things that my body does. Unless something is seriously out of the ordinary then I am just going to relax and stop thinking that something is wrong. It's hard to do that, but I don't want to put unnecessary stress on my body. I think I need some yoga... If anyone knows of any good pregnancy yoga DVDs please pass the info along. I need to find my Zen, lol.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who has been concerned, family and friends. I love you all. As soon as I scan my ultrasound pics in I'll get em posted.

Bad Dreams...

What is it about the first trimester that makes you have such horrible, or weird dreams? I've heard that it was the hormone level in your body that messes with the imagination, but I could've done with out the one from last night... It was pretty vivid so if you don't want to hear it then I suggest you stop reading. Here it goes:

'I was standing in the shower and all of the sudden I started gushing blood and a few clots were coming out. I decided to gather the clots to take it to the hospital to see if I had just miscarried. While I was cleaning up my stomach started cramping really bad so I sat on the toilet and another clot came out. Except this time it was about the size of my thumb and you could tell it was the baby. It had arms and legs and facial features. So I started crying and called my mom to come over because I lost the baby. She came over with a shoe box that was lined with some cloth and she said we should go bury it. So we took it out behind mom's house and dug a hole in the backyard in front of a tree and buried. I was crying the entire time and mom kept telling me that it was going to be ok and that I could try again. That was the end.'

So if I wasn't afraid enough already, I definately am now. I really just want it to be Wednesday so I can go to the doctor and see my little one in there and know that nothing is wrong. Another thing that kinda freaks me out is that my morning sickness has disappeared. I'm not completely going crazy yet because I haven't had any bleeding lately, but I'm just so afraid that we're going to go in there on Wednesday and there's not going to be a heartbeat. I know it all sounds paranoid but when you've been through what I have, you know that things can go wrong in a very short amount of time.

Please just let everything be ok...

7 Weeks

-Baby weighs approx. 0.03oz.

-Baby's heart has divided into left and right chambers.

-Baby's brain hemispheres are continuing to develop.

-Pigment is visible in the eyes.

-Baby's abdomen is growing rapidly and the appendix and pancreas is already present.

-Baby has doubled in size since last week and is about a half an inch.

Still Feeling Bad

-I tried to eat breakfast, it was banished to the fridge after one bite.
-I tried to eat yogurt at work and it was banished to the garbage after 2 bites.
-I bought a rice crispy treat, managed to get it down in 25 minutes (it was a mini bar too).
-I felt my blood sugar dropping so I bought some starbursts to suck on. Seemed to help a little.
-I left work an hour early, exhausted. I slept for almost 3 hours.
-I didn't feel like making dinner, I didn't feel like eating dinner really but I knew I needed something in my stomach.
-Went to Wendy's and got a plain hamburger and fries. The fries actually hit the spot, but the hamburger took about 30 minutes to eat. I know it's not the best nutrition right now, but hey it was food and so far its stayed down, ok.
-Finally got the energy to write a blog, though I am on the couch with my Tennessee Vols blanket and in my pajamas (which I've been in since 3:30pm after I got home from work).

I know that not feeling well is a good sign, but it really sucks to not have any energy all day long even after sleeping for almost 10-11 hours a night. I feel horrible at work and I don't feel like being all "Miss Sunshine" for my customers. I'm sure when I tell them why they'll understand and be happy for me, but I'm not quite ready to go that public yet. There are only a very few of my regulars that know. Anyway, that's all for now. I'm tired, gonna hit the sack... again.

Morning Sickness

Well, I had my first really bad morning sickness episode. All the other times have pretty much just been heaves and amount to nothing. Last night I woke up about 3am determined to throw up. Nothing would come up, I heaved a couple times but to avail. I decided this might take a while so I went to the couch and laid down. It was pretty much the same story the next 3 times I went through out the early morning. It was kind of making me mad, my stomach was hurting, my mouth was watering, I KNEW I had to throw up! And I knew I wouldn't get much sleep until I did.

Bobby left for work at about 8am, so I jumped back in bed on his side since his was only about 5 feet from the bathroom. Drank some water and tried to feel better so I could go eat breakfast and go grocery shopping with mom and dad. At 8:20 I still didn't feel better, in fact I felt worse and frustrated on top of that. I called mom and told them it wasn't gonna happen today. So I ate a cracker and rolled back over hoping to get some real sleep.

Not even 5 minutes later I got the "watery mouth, I'm gonna puke..." feeling again, so I ran to the bathroom and SCORE! I finally did it. It was out, thank goodness... I felt so much better after that. So then I went back and slept for a good 3 hours. I still don't feel great, but nothing is worse than knowing you have to throw up and not being able to get it out for 5 hours!!

I'm not complaining though, getting sick does suck, but it is so worth it if it means my hormone levels are where they should be for my little one. It's all about that little dot, it is my life. And I will endure anything to ensure it's safe arrival.

OBGYN Appointment

Our appointment went really, really well today! We had to wait for what seemed like forever to get the room with the good ultrasound. I didn't mind though, I was so excited to see our little one. Bobby was getting pretty anxious though. We got a test this morning from his brother that his wife was going into labor at Kennestone Hosptial in Marietta. We finally got into the room and started talking to my midwife. (The same midwife I used before, I love her...) She walked in and gave me a big hug and said that she was SOOO happy when she saw my name on her patient list today. She congratulated us of course, and then it was down to business.

I told her about the spotting over the weekend. She said it could be that when the ovaries stop producing progesterone and they let the placenta take over (around the 6 week mark), if there's even a little gap then it can cause some spotting. She also checked for any infections (which is what I was worried about, because I know that causes spotting too). We went ahead and did the ultrasound and saw our little one in there and the heartbeat too! I was so relieved as soon as I saw it... I just wanted to make sure that my little bean was still in there and alive. She gave us a couple of pictures as you can see below, and said: Congratulations, you're having a dot!

It's pretty tiny, but right on spot for 6 weeks. We tried to listen to the heartbeat but she said it was too small to pick it up right now, but we should be able to in 2 weeks when I go back. After that I got dressed and she came back in and said that I did have a very small infection, and explained that when your hormones are going crazy, like they do when you're pregnant, it's throws off the balance in there and makes it a more suitable enironment for infections to occur. So she gave me my medicine that I'll take and it should be cleared up in no time. I think she could tell that I was kinda worried, and she told me that everything would be fine and they would check it out every single time I came in. I had to take blood and then get a referral to the perinatologist (fancy for high risk doctor).

I think they took like 5 or 6 viles of blood then we talked to the referral coordinator. She set us up with an appointment at Northside Hospital to talk about getting a cerclage done (stitch in the cervix to keep it closed). Then I have another regular appointment the next day. So all in all I was very happy with the way it went and I am so relieved that my little bean is growing away! After we left there we booked it down to Marietta to meet my brother and sister-in-law.

She had a healthy baby girl, 5lbs and 14oz. She looks just like Kirk and is so beautiful. I think Candace is staying with her mom for about a week while Kirk and Bobby's dad get the nursery painted. (She wasn't due until the 21st, so she came early). After she gets settled back in at home then we're going to go and see them and love on little Ralyn (pronounced Ray-lynn). I'm not sure if that's the correct spelling of her name, I'll find out though.

Then of course I had to go to work. I finally made it at about 5 past 5pm, I was supposed to be there at 2pm, but I called and told them I was going to be and aunt and Aunt Liz was gonna be late, lol. I'm finally home, in my pajamas getting ready to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and go to bed. I am SOOOO tired. It was a long day.

6 Weeks

-Baby is 2 to 4mm long.

-It is possible to see the heartbeat on an ultrasound.

-Baby's brain chambers are forming.

-Eyes complete with retinas and lenses are forming.

-Facial features are forming also.

-The development of the digestive system is taking place, starting with the the stomach and intestines.

How exciting! My little one is starting to grow, by next week he/she will have little arm buds poking out! Pregnancy is really an amazing thing isn't it? By the way, the spotting has calmed WAY down. I had a few pink spots this morning, and nothing else the rest of the day, and even while I was at work! I though that standing would aggrivate it and I had contemplated coming home when Emily got in. But I checked throughout the day and there was none. I hope it was just something minor, and I'm glad it seems to have gone away.

On another note, it is our 2nd Wedding Anniversary today! We'll probably go out to eat this weekend and be all romantical, lol. I am so glad I found a great guy like Bobby. He really has my heart and I can't think of a better anniversary gift to give him than a baby. He's going to make such a wonderful dad, I can't wait to see him in full daddy-action.

Disappointed

I can't believe Tennessee lost to an unranked team. We picked up four (FOUR!) interceptions in the first half. UCLA's QB Craft was horrible in the first half, we HAD this game! What the hell happened?! I am so diappointed. Crompton did okay tonight, he got rocked a little, but he better get used to it. We'll be playing teams a whole hell of a lot better than fricken UCLA.

On a different note, the spotting was very very minimal today, so that makes me happy. :o) I hope tomorrow is even better. Well, I have to get up early tomorrow, I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend.

Cookout, Spotting and College Football

The cookout was fun. We had hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, beans and coleslaw. And cake, my dad and grandpa's mom had birthdays in August, so we had a cake for them. The kids ran wild, the food was awesome, all and all and pretty good day.

As for the spotting, it did come back. It got a little more red about the time everyone was leaving. I was pretty much in freak out mode... Mom had to calm me down. she told me that if I was miscarrying that I would be bleeding a lot more than what I actually was. Probably too much info for some people, but come on... this IS my pregnancy blog. It's pretty much only there when I wipe. Anyway, it seems to always slack off at night. The anxiety level is pretty high, but I am trying my best to keep calm. I just will be so glad when I can go to the doctor on Wednesday.

I just want to go in and see our little one still in there and then I will be ok. I know that sometimes spotting happens for no reason, but it still doesn't help the nerves. I guess as long as it doesn't get heavy then I won't freak out too much.

Tomorrow we are going to Bobby's best friend's house to watch the Tennessee vs. UCLA game. It should be interesting. I hoping this new quarterback will deliver. They said he was looking pretty ready in preseason. Let's hope it tranfers over into the games that count. I really want to beat those Dawgs again this year!! Yay for SEC collage football!! By the way, Hawaii got spanked, but I still love em...