12 week update

Man, it's much harder to keep a pregnancy blog updated when I already have a toddler running around. I really don't know how "mom bloggers" have time to blog about being a busy mom. I'm lucky to shower and fold a load of laundry. Anyway, here's a little update:

At 9 weeks I finally had slightly sore boobs. If this is TMI for you, you probably shouldn't read a blog about pregnancy because it's part of the story. This added some relief that everything was going ok in there. I feel like the wait from the first appointment at 7 weeks to the second at 11 weeks is torture because it's still a high risk time for miscarriage and you can't feel the baby move or whip out the doppler to check for a HB and if you're like me and have few symptoms, any little reassurance like sore boobs is wonderful!!

Then at 10 weeks, the nausea hit pretty hard and as gross and annoying as it was, I was also happy about this. I think it may be because 10 weeks is the point when the placenta is fully developed, so it is producing progesterone, but I was also still taking supplements which made my level really high. I've thrown up three times in the last two weeks and it's always in the morning while brushing my teeth. My gag reflex is fierce when I'm pregnant! But now that I've hit 12 weeks, I think it's fading away again. Yay. I took my last progesterone pill last night!

At 11 weeks I had a bonus appointment for a UTI and the NP couldn't find the HB with a doppler so she sent me for US to check. I was slightly nervous, but this same thing happened with C and everything was fine and I'd been having symptoms at this point, so I was about 80% sure things were ok.

And they were! Baby was wiggling around and HB was 165. I really hoped to get a good profile shot of the lower body to see an "angle of the dangle" and make a gender prediction. The baby was at a weird angle so it was hard to see, but the couple times I did get a glimpse is making me guess it's a boy. I didn't see a nub sticking straight out in front parallel with the spine like C had and I think I saw a little nub sticking up on top. But, they weren't the most reliable shots.

So then I had my usual appt at 11 wks 2 days with my doc. She again couldn't find a HB with doppler and was unaware that I had just had a sono two days ago (and I didn't say anything ;-0)

so she sent me over to sono. HR was 175 this time, but the baby was facing us and the sono tech didn't stay on for very long so we didn't get any good nub shots.

I also did my one hour glucose test that day to test early since I had GD last time. My doc was confident I would pass because she said doing it this early just shows if I already had diabetes and that true "gestational" diabetes doesn't usually show up until 24 weeks. Well, I failed. My sugar was 180 and it needed to be below 140. MY doc is letting me skip the three hour test because it's a waste of my time. With a one hour sugar that high, chances are I would fail anyway and even if I passed the three hour, I would be paranoid that I'm still borderline and want to to the GD diet anyway. So I'm on this horrible low carb diet for SIX months this time, and through all the holidays :-(

Today at 12 wk 1 day was my first trimester screening. This is optional, but I'm paranoid and want all the reassurance or knowledge I can get. I like to be prepared. First I met with a genetic counselor to just talk about risks and she made me a little nervous because she said that having already failed a glucose test probably means I was already diabetic and because this was unknown/uncontrolled for the first few weeks of development that this puts the baby at risk of heart and neural tube defects and recommended I get a level II US and a fetal ECHO. But I don't understand because I did a glucose test six weeks after C was born to make sure and I passed with flying colors, meaning I didn't have regular diabetes and just to be safe I checked my own sugar at 8 weeks after drinking a cherry lime aide and that was fine as well. I thought I just developed it once the placenta was formed fully. So, now I'm super nervous about that. Sigh.

I had labs drawn and an ultrasound to look at the baby's development so far and specifically the skin on the back of the neck. If the skin is thick, it is associated with Downs syndrome, Trisomy 18 and heart defects. The baby was super wiggly and uncooperative and wanted to lay in all positions except on his/her back which is what we needed. But they finally measured and the neck measurement needs to be less than 3.5 and mine was 0.8 so that puts the baby at a very low risk for those things. That was reassuring. And again I couldn't get really good looks, but from the few shots I saw, I'm still guessing it's a boy. Oh and HB was 159.

All in all, I'm very happy. The baby's brain looked healthy and all the parts seemed to be there. I"m a little worried about what the genetic counselor said, so I'll just do the extra screens to make myself feel better.

belly pics

so, with my last pregnancy I did belly pics from the beginning to get a comparison of before and after, but I'm not doing it this time because well, my belly never completely went back down. My muscles have about a four inch split in them and I look about 12-16 weeks pregnant on any given day, so posting early pictures is just dumb. I think I'll do the first one around 16 weeks or so.

Good day

Today was my first ultrasound. I was beyond nervous this morning. I knew that this could go one of two ways and that this would either be a really good day or a really bad day. I was so worried about there not being a heartbeat, or the heartbeat being slow or the baby not measuring correctly. I was sick to my stomach, had butterflies, shaking etc...

BUT.... It is a GOOD day!!

With C, they couldn't see anything by abdominal US because it was small and my uterus was retroverted (tilted toward my back), so I had to have an internal US.

This time, we could see right away on my abdomen!! My pregnancy with C fixed my uterus and this baby and bubble were big enough to see. We saw the heart beating right away at 142 bpm and it measured 7w 1 day which makes my due date April 16th.

I'm soooooo relieved and happy that I think I may go ahead and announce this pregnancy to everyone :-)

The last number

After I had the spotting, I had my HCG drawn and had calculated that it should be about 33,000 if it doubled every 48 hours from the previous draw a week earlier of 2820.

The doc called last Wed and my level was 21,000. She was all "looks great!" And I was all "that's too low!!" I told her what I had calculated and she told me that when it gets up this high, it only doubles every 3-4 days instead of every 2. But, being the pessimistic worrier that I am, I didn't believe her. I thought she was just trying to give me hope by saying that SOMETIMES this is the case. I got of the phone and cried and cried. I was sure I was having a miscarriage. The baby was no longer growing at a rapid pace, and that was it.

I wished that I had not had my level drawn this time. It was my idea and optional. My doc didn't think it was totally necessary and I debated whether or not to do it because I knew if it did not climb exactly like I had calculated, I was going to make myself crazy. I wish the nurse would've warned me about the slowing numbers ahead of time.

But, as I started talking to other people and looking things up on line, I found lots of information supporting this. After 6,000 it does slow down to every 3-4 days. Why didn't I know this? I thought I was up to date on all this pregnancy stuff.

This did relieve me some, but I still wouldn't feel satisfied until I saw a strong heartbeat.

signs so far

I have very little pregnancy signs. I'm one of those people that could go many months without knowing I'm pregnant because I also normally go months and months without a period.

But, since I DO know, I pay extra close attention to any changes to catch my symptoms.

So far, the similarities to C's pregnancy are

fast growing thick black hair on my lower belly (grosss, I know, that's what razors are for)

odd tingling back pain below my right shoulder blade. It's some kind of nerve issue I think.

My friend JL gets the same thing when she's pregnant and she went to a chiropractor and he told her it has to do with gallbladder irritation that radiates to that area. Weird.

Hip pain ALREADY. It's only slight right now, but I think the relaxin hormone has already loosened everything up. My hip and pelvic pain was my biggest pregnancy complaint with C, but I don't remember feeling anything until about 22 weeks. This time I was 5 weeks. It's gonna be a long 8 months.

Mild constipation compared to my norm

THIRSTY for water all the time. I can't get enough

Blonde eyebrows. I know this one sounds really weird, but with C a few of my eyebrow hairs turned white, and it's happening again. I have no idea what this is about.

mild dull cramps/ tugging/ pulling feeling in my uterus

Differences I've noticed are

with C I was only nauseous first thing in the morning. This time it seems to hit in the evening and nothing ever sounds good for dinner. I feel fine in the mornings. It's VERY mild nausea just like C's was though. I am thankful for this

My boobs don't hurt AT ALL. With C, they were mildly tender. I remember hearing people talk about how killer painful they were and thinking that mine were just slightly sore with C and that always worried me, but this time I could punch them and not even flinch. I'm not so worried about it this time.

My face is breaking out. With C I remember thinking how great pregnancy was for my skin because I never broke out. This time, it's a zit farm on my chin.

seeing brown

Yesterday morning I had two tiny streaks of brown spotting. WORRY!!! I know they say a lot of people spot throughout their pregnancy, especially in the first trimester, and that it can be no big deal, but I also know that it CAN be a big deal. How do you know when to panic? I had some pink and brown spotting when I was pregnant with C between weeks 5 and 6. I'm 6 weeks today. The fact that C made it here ok despite the spotting is reassuring, but I can't help but worry a little. My doc said that brown is GOOD, it means that it's old and I'm not actively bleeding. She guesses that it's from implantation, and just took a while to come out. Sorry for the visual. But I asked if I could have another HCG drawn again today just to make me feel better since my ultrasound isn't for another week. She agreed. Now I just have the torture of waiting until tomorrow to get the results. I've calculated that the number should be at least 24,336. That's a big number. I hope this baby can make it!

such an overachiever :-)

My HCG needed to be 1806 yesterday in order to be doubling every 48 hours and my doc called this morning and it was 2820!!!!!!!! Sooooo relieved. My progesterone was 24, which is a perfect number. My first was too low at 12.2, and the second was crazy high at 56, but I think I know why.

When I ovulated back in June I had asked my doc for a prescription for progesterone that I could take until I found out if I was not pregnant and then I would stop taking them. I took those pills with me to california and they went through a suitcase and plane ride and sat in a sometimes hot and humid and other times cold cabin and then I quit taking them when it was negative and the leftovers have been sitting in my nightstand drawer for over a month.

I didn't take them right when I ovulated this time because I decided that was unnecessary and just decided to start them when I got a positive.

Well, I didn't want to let the old ones go to waste before buying a new $20 bottle. They weren't expired. I took one immediately when I got the positive and then we left to go out to dinner. By the end of dinner I felt so dizzy and lethargic like I had taken an ambien. I could hardly eat or walk. At the time, I didn't know what was going on.

The next night the same thing happened and I realized it was always about an hour after my progesterone pill. I read the bottle and it said "may cause drowsiness or dizziness". But this didn't happen with C??

Well, these leftover pills had become a little "squishy". They were soft and the outer shell was gooey and if you shook the bottle, they all stuck together and didn't rattle in the bottle. I think they had broken down at some point in all of the weather change during travel and when I would take them they were releasing all of the hormone at once in my body and it was like taking a sleeping pill! So when I had my first level drawn it was low I'm guessing because I had taken my pill the night before and because it released so fast, it had also gotten out of my system fast instead of having a slow continuous release.

Then because of the low level my doc told me to take it twice a day, night and morning. So, when I went to have my second level drawn, I had just taken the pill and my level was really high!

Friday I started a fresh non-squishy bottle of pills and they don't make me as sleepy or weird and my levels are more normalized. 24 is right where it should be :-)

I am beyond happy today. My first sono is scheduled for Aug 30 to see a heartbeat and confirm a due date. According to my July 25 ovulation day, my due date should be April 16, but I know that I ovulated between 5-7 pm because I had killer cramps, so I'm guessing the egg didn't get fertilized until sometime the next day which would make me due April 17. So, I'm guessing the 17th, which will make me 7 weeks exactly at my sono. Although, with the lower HCG levels compared to C's, I'm wondering if it was a very late implant and my due date might even be a couple days later? We shall see :-)

I'm so excited and elated!! I was crying and shaking with joy over this HCG level. THANK YOU GOD for this gift! I feel incredibly fortunate.