I know. This blog is late. And pretty much everyone we know already knows. But I wanted to document how it happened. :)
So we stopped trying. Completely. We were 100% focused on loosing weight and doing so well with that! It was so nice to not having the stress of trying to conceive in my mind for a change also.
Four or five months pass and July rolls around. I realize my cycle was due that day and I had no signs whatsoever. Which was not normal. A year or so ago, my cycles were ALWAYS irregular so normally I wouldn't have thought much of it. But lately they have been pretty much on the day. I had some cheapie amazon pregnancy tests leftover and around lunch time that day I figured "what the heck" and took one. I fully expected it to be negative. Especially with it being mid day. I finish eating my lunch and realize I forgot all about the test. I go into the bathroom and see this...
I FREAKED out. Was it real? Was it an evap line? Faulty test? So I RAN out to Rite Aid and picked up some first response tests, and took it as soon as I got home (along with a few more cheapies)...
Positive. Totally positive. And I wasn't even late yet! I couldn't believe it. I immediately called my Reproductive Endocrinologist's office because I KNEW a regular OB office would not see me right away. They immediately sent me down to get my blood drawn to check my HCG and Progesterone.
I had to wait a couple days for the results which were torture but they came back and my HCG was 18. So then I had to go back and get more bloodwork to make sure it doubled. In order for it to just barely double I needed a level of 72. AND we got back a level of 180! I was SOOO relieved! So far everything was looking good! My progesterone levels were lower than they want to see though, so I needed to go on medication for that, and continue it until 12 weeks. 2 weeks later I had an appointment scheduled for an ultrasound.
2 or 3 times before my appointment though I saw some very light very small amount of pink spotting. It scared me to death. Especially after a miscarriage, the last thing you want to see is blood. However, the progesterone is known to cause that sometimes so I was hoping that's all it was.
So then at 5 weeks 6 days I went into the RE's office for my first ultrasound. We knew it would be very early and wouldn't probably see much of anything. BUT, we wanted to make sure we could see the sack at least and to confirm it was not an ectopic.
Louie wasn't able to come with me to the appointment because of work so my mom came with me. I was scared to death. We started the ultrasound and almost immediately the Dr found the baby. And all looked good. A HUGE weight lifted off my shoulders because we never made it to this point with the last pregnancy because no one would see us this early.
Our next appointment was when I was 7 weeks 1 day and luckily my husband was able to come with me to this appointment. I was SO nervous, and it was so comforting to have him with me there. We were hoping we could at least see if not hear the heartbeat. She started the ultrasound and she measured the baby and we could see the heart flickering away. We barely were able to hear it, but we did get to a little. It was so surreal!
Here is video of the ultrasound.
Since we were able to confirm things were progressing nicely so far, we decided it was time to move from the RE office to an OB. My appointment with them was when I was 8weeks2days. It was a normal first prenatal appointment, and she did do a very quick ultrasound.
Our next appointment was with a specialist to do the NT Scan to check for abnormalities. I was 12 weeks. I was so nervous for this appointment because it had been a month since we saw the baby, AND I was just nervous for the ultrasound results. I also had to go get bloodwork done for this prenatal screening as well, which I had done the day prior. Our result for the NT was 1.14 which is a great number and I was SO thankful. We still don't have the bloodwork results back though because the lab didn't test me for everything they were supposed to, so I probably won't find out those results until my next appointment in October. But it was so exciting to see how much Baby had grown in the last month! As for me, I have been SO sick. Almost from day 1. Morning sickness has kicked my butt. Finally at 12.5 weeks I had to bite the bullet and get a script for zofran to try to help. Other than throwing up, the worst has been food aversion. To everything. Since mid july I have hardly been able to eat. That has honestly been the hardest. Now with the medication its a little easier to eat thank goodness, and I'm hoping that in a couple weeks that should fade away on its own.
I can't believe that I have made it into the second trimester. (tomorrow I will be 14 weeks) It still doesn't seem real. When you wait for years for something you have wanted and prayed for so much I don't think it will fully seem real until we hold the baby in our arms. Because we were so anxious the entire first trimester, to celebrate entering the 2nd, last weekend we went to Babies R Us and did our registry. I had no idea we would be in there for HOURS! We have pretty much gotten it all finished, and once we find out the gender we might make some changes, but I don't mind gender neutral items, because I know we will get lots of gender specific clothes/items once the baby is here. We are so blessed as well to be probably getting 3 baby showers as well. One family/friends, One at Louie's work, and then my awesome Twilight Mom friends have said a little about a Twilight Baby shower, which is SO sweet of them. I just can't wait to hit that milestone in the third trimester!
Our next appointment is October 8, I will be 16 weeks. It would be fantastic if we could find out the gender but we might not have an ultrasound at the appointment. They said they usually do the gender ultrasounds at 18-20 weeks. I was told our local mall has a ultrasound place that will check the gender for you for $40. SO if I simply cannot wait until November we might do that :). We will be having a gender reveal party to find out the gender with some of our family all at the same time. I cannot WAIT!
So, that gets you all up to speed. A girl who tried for almost 6 years for a baby, who suffered a miscarriage, gets a surprise pregnancy. Who would have thought? We are SO thankful, and I pray every day thanking God for this miracle. I also forgot to mention I have a strong feeling baby is a girl. Can't wait to find out if I'm right!