9w, 1d: Wiggly baby!

I have to apologize right off the bat. I don't have a picture! I know I promised to come back with one, but I didn't, and I'll let you know why in my story. I'm gonna throw a picture on here of someone else's ultrasound (from babycenter.com!), with what the baby looked like (except less clear because the ultrasound machine at my Ob/Gyn's office is really that bad):

(Note: this is not my baby!)
Okay, story time. Today my appointment was with a different midwife than I've had before, Janna. She was nice, but a bit rushed, probably because she was running late and it was the end of the day! I don't think that anyone informed her about the ultrasound that was the entire point of the visit, which was part of our problem.

I went to my appointment with a very, VERY full bladder. The last time we had had an ultrasound they ended up having to use the vaginal probe because my bladder was so empty, and I was not about to let that happen this time. I also ate some cookies about an hour before the appointment, because I've heard that infuses the baby with sugar and helps get him/her moving around for the ultrasound. We were admitted by a nurse pretty quickly, and got my blood pressure (still pretty low at 90/58) and weight (88 lbs., so down 1.5 from the last visit). After the nurse left was awful. We waited for probably 20 minutes in the room, and all I could think about was my exploding bladder. It was probably worse just because I was thinking about it, but it was really driving me crazy!

After the 20 minute wait, Janna came in and introduced herself. She talked to me about the losing weight (which is probably because I'm eating less because I'm nauseous fairly often + spicy foods make me sick to my stomach), and instructed me to eat high fat content foods so that I would gain more weight! She also told me I could take some extra vitamin B6 (50mg) or try some ginger to help me with the nausea. And she said I should never stop eating all day long because that will help, too. How about that? Permission from a doctor to eat whatever I want, whenever I want?!? Woohoo! Jonathan is making it his personal mission to get me to eat more fatty things, which, of course, involves his eating more fatty things, since he won't make me eat alone! (Janna is probably his favorite midwife ever now.)

After "discussion time" Janna suggested that she try the doppler, since I'm so skinny she figured she might be able to hear something. It didn't work! (This was the only time during the appointment that I was actually nervous for!) It was probably a combination of their probe being only 2 Mhz (3 Mhz is supposed to be able to hear a heartbeat earlier) and the baby being in a turned around position (I've heard that even if they're facing backwards when you're this early, that can stop you from being able to hear it).

At this point, I realized that she probably was not thinking about doing an ultrasound, so I brought it up, since I really, really wanted this (especially after not being able to hear the heartbeat!). She acquiesed to my "demand" and brought in the dinosaur. She found the baby right away and it looked just like the picture up above - except that she was having a really hard time keeping the baby in the picture! I think he/she was moving around a lot, probably because I was shivering (it's cold here today!) and all of the sugar I infused him/her with. :) Hehe, whoops. We saw the baby and she pointed out the heartbeat, although I couldn't see it very well because I couldn't move even a centimeter without jiggling the baby off the screen... Then she promptly wiped me off and turned off the machine! I was in a state of shock - I really thought she was going to freeze the baby's picture and measure the heartbeat, which is what they did last time, and I didn't even get a second to ask for a picture! So no picture, folks. :( But now I know for next time that I am going to start the ultrasound by asking for a picture, and then if they forget I will not feel bad asking for it if they start to turn things off. Also, since our next ultrasound is the nuchal transluceny scan, that picture will probably be much clearer, any way.

I'm going to order a doppler sometime today or tomorrow, I hope, and I'm going to try to get one that I can record onto the computer with! I'm really looking forward to hearing our baby's heartbeat for the first time!

Heartbeat of 146!!!

I had my first prenatal appointment this afternoon and prior to arriving I went to the bathroom. Then when I arrived at the appointment, they handed me a small cup for a urine sample (whoops, forgot about that), so I attempted to give them a sample... yeah, right.

After the attempted evacuation of my bladder, I was called into my room. I've gained 1.5 lbs. (up to 89.5), still measure 5'0" tall, and my blood pressure was surprisingly low at 88 over 60 (usually I'm more like 100 over 80). Do you want to know why it was so low? Because when I walked into the room, the nurse told me I would have a pap smear, a breast exam and A SCAN. Without. My. Husband. (Who wasn't there because I thought this would be a boring exam and who wants to watch someone else get a pap smear?) *Heart attack ensues.* Note to self: husband comes to every appointment from now on.

Once the nurse had left and I had changed into my lovely "open in front" gown, my midwife didn't come in for about 30 minutes... *Second heart attack ensues.* I decided to try to take a nap while I was waiting. (Yeah, right.) Eventually she came in, and told me that she figured that I would want to do the scan first, rather than waiting until the very end to do it. You betcha!

She tried abdominal first, but their scanner was about 25 years old and my bladder was *E-M-P-T-Y*. I don't think she's ever seen a pregnant woman with a more empty bladder. We could see the baby, but it was very far away and small and I don't think their scanner has a zoom function (yikes).

Of course the next step was the vaginal scan. I don't know why everyone always apologizes when they have to resort to this, because I don't mind it a bit and I don't think it feels all that uncomfortable... But maybe that's just me. My midwife found the baby easily on the vaginal scan, but she couldn't see the heartbeat (she was kind of older and probably doesn't have great eyes) even though I was pretty sure I could see it. *Commence breathing again.* She wanted to get one of the doctors to double check for her, since she said wasn't very good at using the scanner.

I waited a few more minutes and then an older Chinese woman doctor came in. She tried to let me move the wand, but I was useless at this, so she had to do it for me. She found the baby quickly and the heartbeat looked super slow, but then she moved it just a tad and voila! the heartbeat was quick! She thought it looked a bit slow, still, so she measured it, and it came out to 146, which she said was actually great (she was used to seeing heartbeats around 175-180, so compared to that, it looked slow to her). The baby looked much more formed than last Wednesday, with the head being clearly defined and much larger and a cute little tail at the other end. The picture that printed wasn't very good, so I didn't ask for a copy - they kept one, so I can always ask for one later if I really want it.

This is about what the baby looked like, but in black and white and a bit fuzzier:

After that was just the pap and the breast exam, which both were fine. I'm going back in 2.5 weeks for another scan (Thursday, May 14 at 4:15 pm), when I will be 9 weeks. This will reduce my chances of miscarriage, if there is a heartbeat then, down to 5%, and then my First Look is being scheduled for June 3 in the morning, and if the baby is doing well then, my miscarriage chances will be down to about null!

Hooray for God taking care of Thumper!

11w, 6d: Falling down

Ouch. I slipped down the stairs on Saturday morning, effectively waking everyone up with my loud crash and crying. Thankfully, I think the baby is okay - I've had no bleeding or cramping at all since then, and I fell on my back, not my stomach at all - although I am still a bit sore at the spot on my back where I hit.

Today we get to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time! Thankfully, my symptoms have done some major increasing over the past week, so I am extremely optimistic for this appointment, and only about 10% worried. But then again, I am such a worrywart that it would be odd for me to not be worried, especially after taking a spill. Ugh, why am I such a klutz?!

Tomorrow marks the 12 week mark, which I am so thankful for! Two more weeks of the first trimester, and then onto the easy (I hope?) second trimester! Tomorrow is also our first ultrasound of the baby, and this should be a very detailed picture, as they are going to be measuring the nasal translucency and looking for possible chromosomal defects. You can pray that everything looks beautiful and perfect, and that our baby is healthy and whole. Tomorrow also marks when we are going to start telling everyone about Baby Burnham! It will be so much fun to have everyone in on the secret!

I will try to update later after the heartbeat appointment, which is at 4 pm!

UPDATE:
T-I-double gah-RRRRR: We couldn't find the heartbeat! Not to worry, my friends, the midwife warned us before starting that she might not be able to find it. It seems that the baby is still cushioned low in my pelvic cavity, and combined with the old Doppler system they had, it just wasn't strong enough to find the wee heartbeat. They did, however, find my heartbeat through the placenta, so everything is progressing just fine and she wasn't worried one bit. She said they should have an easier time finding the heartbeat at the 16 week appointment on January 5, and that, of course, we should be able to see it tomorrow on the ultrasound. I also got my flu shot at the appointment. I didn't get it earlier because I was worried that it might affect the development, but I was more worried now about getting a bad case of the flu since everyone's passing it around at work.

Tomorrow is our first ultrasound! Please pray for my appointment, that everything would go smoothly and that our beautiful baby boy or girl will be healthy! With my luck, they probably won't even be able to find the baby! "Uhh, I'm sorry, ma'am, but your uterus just isn't where it should be..."

7w, 6d: First midwife appointment

I arrived to the Obstetrics office *25 minutes early* (I was aiming for 15, but was a bit off :-P). For the next 25 minutes I sat frantically wondering where my loving husband was, as he was supposed to meet me there. As I was already quite nervous to see the midwife, I was making myself sick over him not being there. Or was that the morning sickness that seems to be just starting up?

I was brought into a room and worked up by Katie, not my lovely nurse Julia, but very sweet and kind just the same. Katie took my BP (100/80, I think) and weight (88 lbs - 3 gained already! only 45 more to go... hahaha). Luckily, I had come in in May for my yearly appointment, so the midwife didn't need to do the breast exam/pap smear/other lovely gyn stuff, and only had to feel the size of my uterus... Which, in case you're wondering, is approximately the size of a grapefruit by 8 weeks! Katie also found my loving husband after he had dashed in 5 minutes late and brought him back to where I was.

Mary, my midwife-for-this-appointment, (who came in after 25 minutes of waiting!) was very, very sweet. She told me that I have O negative blood type (like my two brothers, mom, and probably my sister), which relieved some long-held guilt that I had been the cause of sensitizing my mom to the Rh-factor, thus causing the death of several of my mom's later pregnancies... Phew! (Seriously, that was a major concern of mine since I learned about antibodies in AP Biology.) Sadly, that means that I HAVE TO GET THE SHOTS. Ugh. I think those come at 28 weeks (unless you bleed earlier in the pregnancy, then you have to get it immediately) and somewhere right before you have the baby. The point is to prevent your body from making antibodies against the Rh-factor, which would attack a future baby who was Rh positive. Our babies have a 50% or 100% chance of having the Rh-factor, depending on whether Jonathan has this on one or both of his genes. The first baby who is Rh-positive will never be attacked, as the mother does not create the antibody until coming in contact with the baby's blood during a miscarriage or delivery. Future babies would be attacked in-utero, thus four out of five miscarriages that my mother had. (The first, Ashley, was due to an incompetent cervix, and we believe that she must have been Rh positive.) Short genetics lesson... Sorry.

Other tests that were done last time: no HIV (big surprise there!), no cystic fibrosis gene, no anemia (that was actually a surprise to me!), and everything else they tested looked great!

Because my brother was born with a hole in his heart (well, mom actually corrected me later and said that it was actually opened by the doctors putting him on a cold gurney while they were trying to get him oxygen because he wasn't breathing on his own), Mary said she may want to get my baby an Echocardiogram with the ultrasound at 18 weeks. Just to be sure that everything is okay... She said the relation was kind of remote (being my brother, not a direct ancestor of the baby), and she would check with an OB to see if it was necessary or not, but that makes me feel like she really cares and is being thorough with my baby. I am perfectly happy to have the Echo just to be sure. I think my family's history of heart problems maybe pushed her a bit more in that direction.

Due to the long history of *both* types of diabetes in my family (and gestational diabetes!), I get to be tested for gestational diabetes EARLY at 20 weeks, instead of 28! Lovely! (Not.) Basically, you go in to take this test and drink this *super* sugary concoction, wait an hour, and then have your blood sugar tested. Cute gem of a story: my mom told me that when she took one of her tests (I think it was for one of my younger siblings, when she was actually *going* to the OB), she drank a coke immediately before the test ("But nobody told me not to!"), and the doctor about had a heart attack when he saw that her blood sugar was so high. But she explained, and they did the test again later. Nice.

The midwife seemed happy with my 25 minutes of walking home from work (at a brisk pace... which is just my normal pace, for those of you who have never walked next to me), and told me I was probably right to stop walking with all of the spotting that I had had. She said it was probably due to my cervix being extra-sensitive during pregnancy (this is normal), but after a few more weeks, I should work back up to walking that much again and it wouldn't have any effect once I was further along.

Mary confirmed my due date of June 23 with a wheel that calculates things from LMP (last menstrual period) or ovulation date (which I knew). I thought the wheel was funny, because my mom has one from 24 years ago when she was pregnant with me.

There was a second midwife along with Mary; I think her name was Jennifer. She is taking over most of Mary's time at the office, since Mary has another office somewhere else that she is going to be shifting most of her time to. It was nice to meet both of them, especially since Jennifer will probably see me more often, since my appts. will most likely stay on Mondays. Jennifer looked *extremely* familiar to me, so I'm not sure if she just looks like someone I know, or I've actually met her somewhere... But considering I didn't think I knew any midwives, she must just look like someone.

My next appointment is scheduled for December 8, and sometime between December 5 and 16 will be my "First Look" screening. This is a new screening test for Down Syndrome and Trisomy 13, which counts some proteins in the mother's blood, as well as an ultrasound to measure the nachal folds (the length of the baby's neck?). They then calculate your chances of your baby having Down Syndrome or something else, and give you the option of doing CVS or amniocentesis later on, if you are high risk. We are only doing this test because it comes with an ultrasound, which otherwise would not be done until 18 weeks!!! I thought that was a bit long to wait to see my baby, considering we haven't even been able to hear a heartbeat yet. The whole thing seems a bit imagined with zero visible or audible proof of being pregnant (although the doctor's confirmed it with a blood test). I guess my growing pooch is kind of proof. Anyway, the test is free to us and it has no risk of harming the baby (just being a blood test and an ultrasound), so it seemed like a great deal to us!

We left around 3:50, considering the 25 minutes of waiting for the midwife, wasn't too long of an appointment. Everything looks great and we're very excited for our "First Look" at the baby!

6w, 2d: Nurse Julia and Dental Hygienist Katie

Well, I had my visit with my OB nurse yesterday, and I absolutely love her! It sounds like at my office, you keep the same nurse, but switch off on midwives (or doctors, but I am having a midwife), so that you can meet a bunch of them and not get too attached since you will have whichever midwife is on call. But I love my nurse, her name is Julia and she is so sweet and caring! They did a bunch of blood tests (I think they took blood for more than 5 minutes!) for various things, like anemia, HIV (yeah, just in case?), blood type, cystic fibrosis gene, HCG levels (that would show how far along the baby is) and some other things I don't remember... Seems like everything must have gone well because I didn't get a call, and they said they would only call if something was wrong. So fun!

At the next appointment there is no ultrasound. :( But we should be able to hear the baby's heartbeat via a Doppler, so that will be wonderful! That appointment is on November 10, so 1.5 weeks to go! Jonathan will be home for that one, and I will be taking off the whole weekend (we have Tuesday off for Veteran's Day and I will be taking Monday off, as well, just for fun!).

Today I had a dentist's appointment, and got to tell my sweet, fun hygienist Katie that I was pregnant. She told me that along with most of the other lovely pregnancy symptoms, a lot of pregnant women have more gingivitis (that's a lot of i's). Wonderful. BUT, my teeth were even more perfect than usual and she was so proud of me and told me to keep up the good work! I think she could tell that I had been flossing. :) She also told me she hoped that the baby got my teeth, as they are so very perfect and never needed braces or anything. I hope they get my teeth and Jonathan's eyes! Oh, and I was totally falling asleep in the dental chair! I think my body was thinking, "vertical=sleep," and I was absolutely conking out. Poor Katie had to let me rest my jaw for a minute because I was too tired to keep holding it open the whole time! She told me some funny stories about people who every time they get in her chair just fall straight asleep and how she has to wake them up at the end! One guy even snored through the cleaning!!!

Speaking of eyes, I'm getting a bit worried about mine... I seem to be having problems focusing on things closer to my face, and am having some difficulty switching from close things to far things. I can definitely tell that there is a lag time of re-focusing, which is not normal for me. Also, I have been holding newspapers and books closer to my face. I can still read things further away, but it seems to be less straining to hold them close. One of the things on the list of when I should call my OB's office is eye sight changes. I didn't tell Julia about it yesterday because I thought it was all in my imagination and wasn't having the problems right then, but at this moment I am going crazy trying to retain my focus on the computer screen. Perhaps my poor eyes have had it with staring at screens! Sigh...

Okay, I'm too tired to keep writing. :-P Good night!