Half Way :)

Wow, 20 weeks.....wow. I had my doubts about even getting pregnant and now I am half way through. I am still in awe of this whole process everyday. Every ultrasound (and there are many), every kick in my belly (even in the middle of the night or very early in the morning), every ache/pain/contraction will be all worth it soon!

To update....my cervical lengths this week went well. Monday it was 3.3 and today it was 3.4, so all is good there. Today was supposed to be our gender ultrasound (but we found that out 6 weeks ago) so it was just another ultrasound. They checked to make sure he had all of his organs (kidneys, heart, stomach, bladder, etc) and he did. He was actually quite cooperative today (usually he isn't, he wants to move around too much). And get this....he is still a boy...he even showed us!

This was the first thing we saw, as if to say "hi mom and dad"!!

Saw more than just his "thing" today....

Love this picture, his cute little feet :)

Right when the lady needed to measure his leg bones he stretched one leg out for her...good boy!

Waving bye! See ya next time :)

My doctor appointment after the ultrasound went well too. I was excited to actually see my doctor since recently she has been out of the office or not on call when I have needed her! How dare she have a life ;)
She was glad to see my cervical length is stable. She also made me feel better but just saying she understands how nervous and scared I am and she is here for me whenever...I just love her! She is a little concerned with my weight gain (or lack of). My pre-pregnancy weight was 104 lbs and I am just now at 107. The baby's growth is still fine, but she is worried. I feel like I am eating enough, but maybe I am not. I really thought gaining weight while pregnant would be easy...guess not! She is having me keep a food log for the next week to see where I can improve. Hopefully she can give me some ideas :)

In other news, here is the belly shot everyone is anxious to see...I feel huge and I know I am not even close to that yet!

Also, the nursery is coming along. We finished painting and putting up the chair rail. Now we just need mattresses and bedding stuff....and a little decoration.

 What you see when you enter

The crib and my rocking chair that was my grandma's. The stuffed animals on it are mine and will be put somewhere.

The changing table

The dresser

My Scentsy warmer with the "newborn nursery" smell (it smells like baby powder)...thanks Meg!!

Grandma Janet has been hard at work....shopping :) There would be more but Matt won't let me buy anything :(

That is all for now...will update next week after my doctor appointments!

I know....sorry

Well, 19 weeks is here! I would like to say it has been uneventful lately but it hasn't. My time since my last post has involved doctor appointments, sitting on the couch, and more doctor appointments. No real change. We stopped the Procardia a week after starting it because I wasn't tolerating it and it really wasn't working :( I spend my days sitting on the couch pretty uncomfortable most of the time, my body does give me a break every now and then and I use those breaks for showers, etc.
Monday night into Tuesday I really wasn't getting any relief and was starting to get concerned so I called the doctor and they had me come in for yet another ultrasound/appointment. My ultrasound showed my cervical length had gone down to 3.5 (which is normal) but with me being uncomfortable they thought they would send me to triage for monitoring. I was there for a while and the monitor showed I was having some contractions and lots of irritability. So they decided to give me a dose of a medicine called Terbutaline. It is a shot that is supposed to help "calm" my uterus down. Well, it did that but made the rest of my body go nuts!! I felt awful. My heart rate increased badly and I was shaking. I made Matt go get the nurse at one point because I thought I was going to pass out! Eventually it wore off and we were back to where we started. They gave me the option to keep me overnight and have another ultrasound in the morning or go home. I decided to stay because I was scared and being there gave me some sense of security. My night in the hospital went about as well as to be expected. I didn't sleep much (I usually don't anyway). In the morning I had my ultrasound and my cervical length went up to 4!! I guess I am just nuts! It made me happy to see this but I still remain weary because I won't know if what is going on in my body is doing something or not and based on work experience I know that if something does happen it can happen quickly and silently. They decided from now on they would bring me in for ultrasounds twice a week for reassurance and to catch it if anything does happen. As far as my discomfort goes, well, nothing. We have now tried the medications that I could possibly take while at home and they didn't work. The only other option is a medication that is an IV one and I have to be in the hospital, and it can make me feel like crap! I am not ready to do this yet and they don't think it is needed until I started having cervical change. So I went home and now am back to doing my usual :)
I have my 20 week ultrasound/appointment next week and I am hoping to then post a belly picture and maybe some pictures of the nursery since it is coming along as well!

16 Weeks!!

Well, we made it another two weeks! They have gone by pretty slowly though :( Not much has changed with me. My belly is getting bigger, it has grown another 3/4 inches in the past two weeks. Matt says he can tell, but I don't think it will look much bigger in a picture yet. Still no weight gain though, I am almost to my pre-pregnancy weigh though!
Matt and I went to Babies R Us over the weekend to register. I know it is early but people are wanting to buy us things so we thought we would get the list together so they can! It was soo much fun, I didn't feel great for the whole trip but it was still fun. Matt was scanning everything....he had the most fun in the clothes. This child will be well dressed! He still doesn't have a name....it has been a topic of discussion everyday. We really like the name Lucas (Luke) and that is his temporary name. If we find something we like better than we will change it. But every name I look at I don't like better than Luke!
We had a doctor appointment with an ultrasound yesterday. All is well with him...he is getting so big! I am amazed at his size on the ultrasound :) They didn't do much with the ultrasound but check my cervical length, but they did manage to get this one picture...

He says hi!!
The doctor also started me on a medicine called Procardia to take for contractions (which I am having more and more of every day). They hurt and my belly gets soo hard. I don't like it. Thankfully, they aren't doing anything to my cervix, which is good. They just really annoy me and wake me up at night. This medicine should help. I took my first dose today...it doesn't make me feel all that great and I have noticed a slight decrease in the intensity and frequency of the contractions. I hope it gets better with more doses!

Also, for the first time today..I am now officially positive...that I felt him move! I have felt things for the last few days but wasn't sure if it was him or not. I am sure today....he gave me a good kick and has done it a couple more times since! I love it!!!!!
I have another appointment next week and will post if anything changes!!

NEWS!!! 14 Weeks!!!

14 weeks....wow. I am still amazed every day by this little bean growing in my belly. Bedrest is going well, I am starting to get pretty lonely. Matt is working soo much and we really only see each other in bed when we are sleeping so that is tough. I love when I get visits from friends and family!

I ended up in triage at the hospital again last week because my cramps were getting soo much worse and it was concerning me. They had me come in and checked my cervix, it was closed and firm per MD (that is good). So we just continued with what we were doing...

I am amazed at my body changes lately. The pregnancy journal that I bought has me measure my waist every week and keep track of it (along with my weight)...while I have gained no weight since getting pregnant (still 2 lbs down) my waist size has grown...in fact it grew 1.5 inches in a week!!! Wow! I decided it was time to post some belly pics. Below is the most recent picture of me with a lemon (a friend of mine from nursing school did this with her pregnancy...you take you picture with the fruit/veggie that is the same size as your baby at that point). I am getting there!

Today, I had a scheduled appointment to check on my bleed and my cervix and my cysts. They started the ultrasound and Matt and I immediately saw "something". I asked the ultrasound lady to check that area, when she asked if we wanted to know and we said yes, she said "I already saw it, its a BOY" Matt and I were floored!!! We were for sure thinking it was a girl! But, none the less our baby has a penis and had no problems showing it off....

I still have one cysts that seems to be hanging on in there...but getting smaller. I still have the bleed, but again getting smaller. So.....bedrest resumes! At least for another two weeks. Also, they are going to watch my cervical lengths a little closer (today's was great) because I feel like I am contracting all the time and they want to make sure that my cervix remains sealed shut! Here are some more additional pictures of our little BOY!!!!

Will update soon!!!!

12 Weeks!!!

We made it! The first trimester is over!! I really never thought this day would come. I had my 12 week doctor visit today and all is well with the baby, heart beat was 164. I had an ultrasound on Monday with the high risk doctors to check for Down's Syndrome, etc so they did not do another ultrasound today. That ultrasound showed I still have a pretty good sized bleed in there so the bedrest continues....however, I am now allowed to move around a little more to see how I do :) :) :) Normally I would see the doctor again in 4 weeks but since I am not normal, I will see her again in 2 weeks and they will do another ultrasound to check on the bleed.

I am starting to get a little stir crazy here at home.....Matt gets home around 7 pm, he makes and we eat dinner, he works more, and then we go to bed. So I don't really get to see him much. I look forward to the weekends, but he has been working on those days too. I am missing everyone at work, and feel so out of the loop with everything there! I am developing a baby bump and I love it...now if I could just feel this little one move, my life would be complete! I eagerly await that day :)  Well, I think a nap is in order for me :) I will update as necessary!

Not Normal...

Well, a lot  has happened in the last few days so I figured an update was warranted. I am fine and the baby is fine but it scared the crap out of both Matt and I!

Thursday: Feeling fine most of the day until about 3 pm when my lower back started hurting. I just figured it was growing pains from my uterus or from me laying around too much! Matt and I were supposed to have spaghetti for dinner that night so I thought I will get up and make it to try and work my back out...I also tried a heat pack. Matt came home and we ate dinner, by this point my back was killing me. He told me to go sit down and he would clean up the kitchen. While sitting I thought I would return a phone call to Laura (a wonderful friend of mine who lives in Florida). I had just started talking to Laura when all of a sudden I felt a gush. I asked Laura if I could call her back and ran to the bathroom. By the time I got to the bathroom my pants and underwear were soaked with blood. I started screaming for Matt and he came in the bathroom and his face said it all. I started crying.... I made him go get my phone as I sat on the toilet as the blood was pouring out of me. I called the answering service for my doctor and tried to tell them what was wrong so they could page the doctor (ps....they were asking way to many questions!!! I think it would have been easier to just get the number from work and page her myself!!) I told Matt to get ready and bring me some clothes because we were going to the hospital. The doctor called back very quickly (thank god) and I was crying and she said come in now and we will do an ultrasound. No problem...we left. In the car, the shaking started. We got to the hospital and went up to the unit, I used my badge and walked right in to triage...they knew I was coming and put me in a room. I was in a lot of pain at this point, the back pain was still there but also I was getting this sharp pain in the front and had constant cramps. The ultrasound was sitting there ready to go but we had to wait for the doctor to get there. I really wanted to just ultrasound myself.....but I didn't. Dr.Voelkel finally got there after what seemed like a lifetime (it wasn't). She put the ultrasound on and we instantly saw the baby's heartbeat...I could breathe again. She couldn't see much with the ultrasound we have on the unit so she said she was going to send me home and have me come back into the office on Friday to check everything out. She told me I was now on "don't get your butt up bedrest" She drew some blood and gave me a big shot in the butt (too hard to explain) and sent me home. I continued to bleed a little the rest of the night.

Friday: We went to the doctor in the morning when they could fit me in. We sat in the office forever! The ultrasound was first and showed the baby was still fine and moving all around, but I did have a pretty good sized subchorionic hemorrhage near what was baby A's sack. They thought that what was making me bleed. I saw the doctor afterward and she said that they wanted to see me again in a week to check things out and to call if I bled anymore.

Saturday: Day went by fine. Ate dinner at the dining room table with Matt, but wasn't hungry (that is unusual for me now). Went to sit back down and felt yet another gush. Ran to the bathroom and sat and again watched the blood fall out of me, this time with some clots. I cleaned myself up and came out to the living room to call the doctor....Matt got ready to go...he knew. Dr. Wagner was on call that night and he said to come in to triage and he would have the ultrasound people come and ultrasound me. I was nervous this time, but not as bad as Thursday night. We got there and had to wait for the ultrasound people (people I work with know, this takes forever). They finally got there and started the ultrasound. All I wanted to see was my baby's heartbeat...he put the ultrasound on my belly and was looking all over and not at the baby...I was mad! Finally, he moved it over to the baby and we saw the heartbeat and it was moving like crazy!! Whew! He even got a little picture of the face!!

We had to sit in triage for a little while longer while we waited for the official report to come back. Once it did, we were sent home.

So now I spend my days laying on my couch. I have figured out that if I sit up to long, I start cramping. I have learned to brush my hair while peeing to avoid having to be up too long in the morning. I eat dinner on the couch while laying back (this is a challenge). Last night I tried to take a shower....bad idea. As I was drying off I started to drip blood again. I hurried up and went and laid down on the couch and spent the whole night cramping (I couldn't even sleep). I guess it is baths only for me! I have a doctor appt

I will post more later!

Baby Boo!

Well, not much has happened since I last posted. My nausea is better, just every once in a while now :) I was supposed to go back to work this week, but I am still having quite a bit of pain on my left side when I am standing and moving around...so the doctor extended it for another week pending on the ultrasound I had today.

My ultrasound was amazing! They did a abdominal one instead of a vaginal one :) :) :) The baby looked so much bigger from two weeks ago and actually looks like a baby now!!

 How cute is that?!?!?!!?

 A great shot of the cord....looks good too!!!

 It was moving around soo much too!!!!

A good look at the arms and legs when they weren't moving!!!

In cyst news.....they are still there but smaller. You can actually see which ovary is which now! My right ovary has a small one and my left had two larger ones. Going by the measurements they are smaller, but boy did it hurt bad when she moved the ultrasound on to my left side and was pushing. And now my left side hurts soo bad! The doctor is supposed to look at the ultrasound and let me know about working.....

Well, that is all the news for now. My next ultrasound is the nuchal translucency test (a test for down's syndrome) and it is in about 2 weeks on August 22....will post more then!!!