8 Week Appointment

Yesterday was my first "real" appointment for this pregnancy. Of course I've already been in there 5 times for "problem" appointments! The midwife that I usually see was delivering a baby, so I met with one of the other midwives on the team. I guess the three midwives pretty much work together and as you go to your appointments throughout the pregnancy, you rotate among seeing all 3 of them. That way, when delivery day comes, you already know all 3 of them and they know you, so it's not devastating if your own midwife isn't available. Now I've met with all three of them and they are all incredibly nice and helpful and can put my mind at ease.
Yesterday's appointment was A LOT of basic pregnancy info. and many questions from me. Since I'm still bleeding, she told me to remain on pelvic rest until I haven't bled for 10 days. She also said I should not excercise until I haven't bled for about a week and that I should not do any heavy lifting at all (um, I'm glad I already rearranged my classroom!) She said that unless I have bleeding much more severe than what I've been having (which I already consider severe!), or unless I start cramping, we probably won't do another ultrasound until about 20 weeks. I'm scheduled for another appointment in 2 weeks at which she will try to hear the heartbeat using the doppler. After that, I will have another appointment 2 weeks later (at 12 weeks) and from there she thought I'd hopefully be able to get on a monthly appointment cycle. She also told me that just so I'm aware, my pelvic floor (or something like that) goes straight across (flat) rather than kind of an inverted V shape and that sometimes that can interfere with a normal delivery if the baby is on the bigger side. Sometimes though, everything kind of turns out normal by the time delivery comes, but if not, I'd probably have to have a C-section. I really hope that's not the case, because I don't really want a C-section!
Well, I did feel much better after leaving that appointment yesterday. I hope that we can hear the heartbeat nice and strong at our next appointment and then we will be able to finally tell everyone!

Week 7

This week has been relatively uneventful... well, except for the panicky call to the doctor's office a few days ago after leaking some other fluid (sorry, not to gross you out) that wasn't blood this time. She said it should be fine because it wasn't a constant leak, just once. And it hasn't happened again, so I'm pleased to report that! I've felt a little more queasy this week, but it's only if my stomach is empty and once I eat something, I feel better.
Tonight I went to meet with some friends from work and we talked a lot about pregnancies and maternity leave and stuff, but I still had to keep my mouth shut! It's very hard not to just tell everyone, but I still want to wait at least a little longer and make sure everything is still going smoothly.
Sometimes I just look at the ultrasound picture that I've now stood up next to a little frame on my bookshelf and I'm amazed that this is really happening! It's funny because sometimes my husband comes in here and says hi to the picture, too :) I can't wait until I can tell that it looks like an actual baby in the ultrasound!

A Baby Journal

I decided to not only blog about this pregnancy, but also to start keeping a baby journal. The journal will be letters more directed to the baby and the blog is more sharing how the actual pregnancy is going. I wrote my first letter in the journal yesterday. I still can't believe there's really a baby inside!
Right now the only main thing I've been feeling is a weird pinching sensation in my left side, but it's not a severe pain, just weird and annoying. Other than that, I've felt fine for the most part! I'm not experiencing any morning sickness, so that's good. I suppose I have been more light-headed than normal when I first stand up, but I've always had issues with that, so it doesn't seem very strange to me.
I had my 2nd dream last night about this baby (in both dreams, it has been a girl, but I still assume this one is a boy). It was funny though, in the dream, my best friend had a baby girl at the same time as me and we took them on a road trip as soon as we left the hospital. Her baby looked about 6 months old and mine looked about 8 months old. They could talk and everything, and they informed us that they were already best friends, too! Haha! The last dream I had, the baby actually looked like a newborn and she was cute and all snuggled up with me. I have a feeling that dreams are not a strong indicator of the sex of the baby, though!

Ultrasound!

OK I know I said that I wasn't even scheduled for an appointment for 2 more weeks, but I was having some bleeding again yesterday and had an appointment for an ultrasound this morning. I figured from reading on the internet that since I was just in the middle of my 5th week, they probably couldn't see much on the ultrasound yet, so I didn't have my husband come with me. They needed to find out why I keep bleeding and I was nervous to find out myself.
As soon as she started the ultrasound (a transvaginal one since it's so early), she pointed out the yolk sac and the baby right away and after seeing a little flutter, she said the heartbeat is 114bpm! She said that anything over 100 is good. Yay! She did say that she could see a hemmorhage in there that is about as big as her pinky finger. It's technically a subchorionic hematoma which is a gathering of blood between the membranes of the placenta and the uterus. Apparently during egg implantation, the egg slightly separates or tears from the uterus causing a bleed. She said I will probably continue to bleed some more until it bleeds out or my body absorbs it. She said to take it easy, but that it usually turns out just fine.
I was also told that I'm measuring 6 weeks 5 days, so about a week ahead of what I thought. So my estimated due date right now is March 5th. She printed a picture and said I probably wouldn't have another ultrasound until 20 weeks. Man that's a long time!
I also went down and talked to the doctor (not my doctor, but one that was in) and she confirmed everything the ultrasound tech said and I also got my bloodwork out of the way that she said I would've had to do at my appt. in 2 weeks. Now I won't have to, so that's good. I can't believe littlekins has a heartbeat already! How crazy is that?

Week 6

Welcome to our baby blog! I wanted to start writing now even though we haven't yet told anyone about our little one due in March. I actually found out during week 3 that I was pregnant after seeing a very faint line on a pregnancy test. However, I was having some problems with bleeding, so I went to the doctor the next day (a Friday) and it was confirmed that I was, indeed pregnant. Unfortunately my hormone levels were extremely low (looking back I guess they would be low in week 3) but I went back in on Monday and it showed that my Hcg levels had risen quite a bit, but my progesterone was still extremely low. So I started on progesterone supplements right away to help keep the pregnancy. I have been extremely nervous about this after knowing that such low levels often end in miscarriage. However, I went back to do more blood tests (OK, I practically begged) a little over a week after starting the supplements and my progesterone was up in the 20s which the nurse told me is a great sign! So now we're excited and looking forward to my next (and first REAL appointment) which will be during week 8. We hope to see a heartbeat on the ultrasound! I can't help but still feel nervous because it is still early and everything, but I'm also thrilled to think about how in just 8 months, we will have a little baby here with us!