Our NT scan is scheduled for next Monday, 11/5, in the morning. One week from now. Now that we have a date, I feel kind of nervous about it!
Well, I'm glad it's in the morning so I don't have to think about it all day (unlike our first ultrasound, which was at 4:30PM.) My hubby will be there with me one way or another - his work are usually pretty good about him having appointments, but since we don't know how long this one will take (or whether we'll go in on time, etc.) he might take the day off for it. The NT scan is being done at one of the OB office locations, whereas our first ultrasound was at an imaging center. It's a shame the NT scan can't be done in the same place, because they have awesome hours! (until 9pm, and they're open 7 days a week.)
I think it might be best if he takes the day off so he doesn't have to worry about getting back to work, in case it ends up taking a while. It's about a 20-30 minute drive each way, too, so even if my appointment happens on time he'd be out of work quite a while.
He had a dream last night that our baby is a girl. I feel as though it might be, but only because of the high heart-rate at our dating ultrasound. I know that's not 100% though, of course. Either way, we just really want a healthy baby. That's all we've ever wanted.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Going for it
I got a call from a lady at my OB office on Thursday, who had been told my message was for her (it wasn't). When I called I specifically said my message was for my OB, and I left the message on the doctors' voicemail, so I don't know how that happened. Anyway she relayed my message to my OB so she called yesterday morning. I asked whether we could monitor the SCH by ultrasound periodically and she said that in my ultrasound report no actual dimensions were given for the SCH, which means it's very small. She said it's probably just a little speck, which doesn't need monitoring. So we decided to go ahead with the NT scan, and she said I can ask the person who does the scan to check the SCH if I want to.
I'm a little nervous about the NT scan, but we're going to try and look at the results in a logical, level-headed way. Hopefully there won't be anything to worry about but if there is, we'll deal with it when the time comes. I'm in the process of scheduling the scan now (well, I will be on Monday morning when the office opens). We were out of town yesterday and my cell phone signal wasn't great, so when we got home we had a message on our home phone but it was too late to call them back.
My OB said that between 11 and 12 weeks is the best time to get the NT scan, so if that's the case it will hopefully be done before Thursday next week when I reach 12 weeks. I know it can be done between 11 and 13/14 weeks though, so if it can't be scheduled before 12 weeks we can still get the scan. We're very excited about seeing our baby again, and hoping that everything looks great! :)
I'm a little nervous about the NT scan, but we're going to try and look at the results in a logical, level-headed way. Hopefully there won't be anything to worry about but if there is, we'll deal with it when the time comes. I'm in the process of scheduling the scan now (well, I will be on Monday morning when the office opens). We were out of town yesterday and my cell phone signal wasn't great, so when we got home we had a message on our home phone but it was too late to call them back.
My OB said that between 11 and 12 weeks is the best time to get the NT scan, so if that's the case it will hopefully be done before Thursday next week when I reach 12 weeks. I know it can be done between 11 and 13/14 weeks though, so if it can't be scheduled before 12 weeks we can still get the scan. We're very excited about seeing our baby again, and hoping that everything looks great! :)
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Still no word
I'm still waiting for a call from my OB. Ugh, I wish I'd thought to ask about monitoring the SCH when I found out about it at my appointment last week! I was just like "OK, I have a small SCH". That's it! Duh! In my defense I wasn't really expecting to hear that, so I wasn't prepared with questions, but still...
I'm 10 weeks 6 days today: 2 more weeks of the first trimester, and then I'll be happily in my second trimester. I honestly can't wait! I'm feeling fairly relaxed about everything right now, but I think the second trimester will bring a wave of relief with it. :)
I'm 10 weeks 6 days today: 2 more weeks of the first trimester, and then I'll be happily in my second trimester. I honestly can't wait! I'm feeling fairly relaxed about everything right now, but I think the second trimester will bring a wave of relief with it. :)
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Waiting on a call back
This morning I called our insurance company to find out if the NT scan would be covered: the answer is yes. I then called and left a message for my OB asking her to call me to discuss the NT scan. When she calls I'm going to ask if there's any way we can monitor the SCH without doing the NT scan. If she says no, then I think we'll go ahead with the NT scan. I actually really hope she'll agree to send me for a regular ultrasound, because I'm fully aware that the NT scan can present a whole range of issues and I'd rather not deal with that. I know we probably don't need to do the NT scan, since we're not considered "high risk" for chromosomal abnormalities. I really would like to see our baby again, though, and it would be so reassuring if the SCH is shrinking (or gone altogether).
I'll update when I hear back from my OB, anyway :)
I'll update when I hear back from my OB, anyway :)
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Still trying to decide
We're still undecided about the NT scan. I'm not sure my reasons for wanting to have it are good enough, you know? Really I just want to see our baby again, looking more baby-like. I'd also like to know what's happening with my subchorionic hematoma. Sass (http://fertilityunexplained.blogspot.com/) had a good suggestion about the SCH - that I should ask for a follow-up ultrasound to check on it. I'm going to call my OB and ask if that would be possible. I feel as though she's probably going to say no, but it's worth a shot. At my appointment I asked if I could just have a regular ultrasound around 12 weeks (not the NT scan), and she said no. I don't really want to get the NT scan just so we can find out about the SCH, but I have a feeling that might be our only option - unless my OB surprises me by agreeing to another regular ultrasound. That would be the best solution, really. I'd prefer not to do the NT scan because I know it can cause a lot of stress and worry. A regular ultrasound, though? That would be awesome!
I've had some more spotting today. I hate that, it makes my heart sink every single time. I always worry that it's going to be the start of something worse... This is the 10th episode of spotting since I've been pregnant, so it's not like it's happening all the time. I feel OK, so hopefully it's just one of those things.
As far as symptoms go I'm mainly just really tired, and I'm still having some on and off nausea. I've been very lucky in that respect, though; I fully expected to have full-on morning sickness, and so far I haven't actually thrown up at all. Being super tired is a breeze compared to puking all the time, I'm sure. I've been having some food aversions, but that's easy enough to handle too. My regular jeans and shorts are starting to get pretty uncomfortable, so I think I'll be buying some maternity jeans soon. I know it sounds crazy saying my shorts aren't fitting right, because we're getting towards the end of October - the truth is, we're still waiting for our high temps to drop below 85. It looks like it might be 84 tomorrow - that would be wonderful! I know I shouldn't complain because it's probably cold in most places now, but the summer here is brutal and this year it started earlier than usual. I know it's been Fall for like a month already, but you wouldn't know it here! I'm actually looking forward to wearing sweaters again!
I've had some more spotting today. I hate that, it makes my heart sink every single time. I always worry that it's going to be the start of something worse... This is the 10th episode of spotting since I've been pregnant, so it's not like it's happening all the time. I feel OK, so hopefully it's just one of those things.
As far as symptoms go I'm mainly just really tired, and I'm still having some on and off nausea. I've been very lucky in that respect, though; I fully expected to have full-on morning sickness, and so far I haven't actually thrown up at all. Being super tired is a breeze compared to puking all the time, I'm sure. I've been having some food aversions, but that's easy enough to handle too. My regular jeans and shorts are starting to get pretty uncomfortable, so I think I'll be buying some maternity jeans soon. I know it sounds crazy saying my shorts aren't fitting right, because we're getting towards the end of October - the truth is, we're still waiting for our high temps to drop below 85. It looks like it might be 84 tomorrow - that would be wonderful! I know I shouldn't complain because it's probably cold in most places now, but the summer here is brutal and this year it started earlier than usual. I know it's been Fall for like a month already, but you wouldn't know it here! I'm actually looking forward to wearing sweaters again!
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
OB appointment today
I had my OB appointment this afternoon. I found out that I have a small subchorionic hematoma, which was detected at my ultrasound last week. She said it should just resolve itself - let's hope so! That probably explains the spotting I've had on and off. I don't know what size it is, except that it's "small". I'm trying not to worry about it.
My blood pressure was kinda high, also. Since it's always been fine since I started seeing my OB back in May, she said it's probably just a random high result. I feel fine, just tired but that's definitely normal in the first trimester! She had me give a blood sample so they have a baseline, but said that she thinks I'm OK. I really hope it'll be fine.
I've gained just under 3 pounds since my first prenatal appointment (on 9/10). I've been so damn hungry a lot of the time, I'm just glad I haven't gained more than that. Nobody mentioned it so it must be OK.
I'll be seeing my OB again in 4 weeks time, and by then we should be able to hear the baby's heartbeat! She said we're about a week early to hear it at the moment, which doesn't surprise me. Honestly I'm glad she didn't try to find it, because I don't think she would have been successful, and even though it would be normal at this point because the baby's probably behind bone, that would still probably make me worry!
We talked about the NT scan and she doesn't think I really need to have it. She told us that oftentimes it can cause unnecessary stress and I know that I'm a worrywart as it is, so it's probably better to avoid that. I would really like to see the baby again soon, but the NT scan can really open a can of worms and I don't know if we should go down that road. I've heard of women who've been given very reassuring results and their babies did in fact have Trisomy 21 or other issues, and I've heard of lots of women who've been given bad results and worried for the remainder of their pregnancies only to have everything be perfect in the end. We'll still get the 20 week scan, so if there are any issues they should be picked up then. We're going to think about it for a little while but I think we're leaning towards not getting the NT scan. I really want to enjoy my pregnancy as much as possible, and not spend most of it stressing out. It's stressful enough without adding more things to worry about!
The NT scan and associated blood test gives you odds, rather than definitive results. If you have a high chance of your baby having an abnormality, the only way to find out for certain is to do an amniocentesis or CVS - both of which are invasive and carry a risk of miscarriage. I would hate to have an amnio, and would probably choose not to have it done. Then we'd be worrying for months. It doesn't sound appealing, honestly. If the baby had T13 or T18, those are incompatible with life anyway. T21 (Down syndrome) isn't something we would terminate for. So based on all of that, it would seem there's no point having the NT scan.
I'll be 10 weeks tomorrow, which is kind of hard to believe! I'll be so relieved when I get past the first trimester, but I find it much easier to relax now than I did previously. That seems to help a lot; the time isn't dragging as much.
Most people know now that we're expecting. I kind of had to tell some of the pug rescue people because I'm not lifting things like I usually would, and we had a big fundraiser on Sunday so I didn't want them to think I was just being lazy! I also told one of my best friends (the one who wasn't very supportive when we were struggling to get pregnant), and my aunt. Today I got an e-card from my uncle and his crazy wife, so I guess my aunt told them too. I've told my 2 favorite cousins as well.
Speaking of cousins, my cousin and his wife had their second baby a week ago - another boy, weighing 6 pounds 4 ounces! Tiny! He was a week early but apparently he was measuring small all along. They're all doing well and their older son (2 and a half) loves his new brother a lot. So cute :)
I found out from our mutual aunt (the one I think told my uncle and his wife) by email on Monday morning, and then my cousin called about an hour later to tell me the happy news. He wasn't impressed that our aunt had beaten him to it! She's the one who also told me they were expecting again... I'm seeing a theme here. I guess that anything I want to share about this pregnancy should be told to her after I've told others myself! I know she's probably just excited, but it's a little bit unfair of her to spill the beans when people want to share their happy news themselves. She might have to be the last to know in future!
My blood pressure was kinda high, also. Since it's always been fine since I started seeing my OB back in May, she said it's probably just a random high result. I feel fine, just tired but that's definitely normal in the first trimester! She had me give a blood sample so they have a baseline, but said that she thinks I'm OK. I really hope it'll be fine.
I've gained just under 3 pounds since my first prenatal appointment (on 9/10). I've been so damn hungry a lot of the time, I'm just glad I haven't gained more than that. Nobody mentioned it so it must be OK.
I'll be seeing my OB again in 4 weeks time, and by then we should be able to hear the baby's heartbeat! She said we're about a week early to hear it at the moment, which doesn't surprise me. Honestly I'm glad she didn't try to find it, because I don't think she would have been successful, and even though it would be normal at this point because the baby's probably behind bone, that would still probably make me worry!
We talked about the NT scan and she doesn't think I really need to have it. She told us that oftentimes it can cause unnecessary stress and I know that I'm a worrywart as it is, so it's probably better to avoid that. I would really like to see the baby again soon, but the NT scan can really open a can of worms and I don't know if we should go down that road. I've heard of women who've been given very reassuring results and their babies did in fact have Trisomy 21 or other issues, and I've heard of lots of women who've been given bad results and worried for the remainder of their pregnancies only to have everything be perfect in the end. We'll still get the 20 week scan, so if there are any issues they should be picked up then. We're going to think about it for a little while but I think we're leaning towards not getting the NT scan. I really want to enjoy my pregnancy as much as possible, and not spend most of it stressing out. It's stressful enough without adding more things to worry about!
The NT scan and associated blood test gives you odds, rather than definitive results. If you have a high chance of your baby having an abnormality, the only way to find out for certain is to do an amniocentesis or CVS - both of which are invasive and carry a risk of miscarriage. I would hate to have an amnio, and would probably choose not to have it done. Then we'd be worrying for months. It doesn't sound appealing, honestly. If the baby had T13 or T18, those are incompatible with life anyway. T21 (Down syndrome) isn't something we would terminate for. So based on all of that, it would seem there's no point having the NT scan.
I'll be 10 weeks tomorrow, which is kind of hard to believe! I'll be so relieved when I get past the first trimester, but I find it much easier to relax now than I did previously. That seems to help a lot; the time isn't dragging as much.
Most people know now that we're expecting. I kind of had to tell some of the pug rescue people because I'm not lifting things like I usually would, and we had a big fundraiser on Sunday so I didn't want them to think I was just being lazy! I also told one of my best friends (the one who wasn't very supportive when we were struggling to get pregnant), and my aunt. Today I got an e-card from my uncle and his crazy wife, so I guess my aunt told them too. I've told my 2 favorite cousins as well.
Speaking of cousins, my cousin and his wife had their second baby a week ago - another boy, weighing 6 pounds 4 ounces! Tiny! He was a week early but apparently he was measuring small all along. They're all doing well and their older son (2 and a half) loves his new brother a lot. So cute :)
I found out from our mutual aunt (the one I think told my uncle and his wife) by email on Monday morning, and then my cousin called about an hour later to tell me the happy news. He wasn't impressed that our aunt had beaten him to it! She's the one who also told me they were expecting again... I'm seeing a theme here. I guess that anything I want to share about this pregnancy should be told to her after I've told others myself! I know she's probably just excited, but it's a little bit unfair of her to spill the beans when people want to share their happy news themselves. She might have to be the last to know in future!
Monday, October 15, 2012
Thursday, October 11, 2012
OB appointment didn't happen
I had an appointment with my OB this afternoon. We arrived and the waiting room was pretty full... My first thought was "great, we'll be here for hours". Well, as it turned out when I signed in I was told my OB had just been called to a delivery, so we had to reschedule. A little annoying, but eh, whatever. Today's appointment was only a routine post-ultrasound appointment, anyway. We rescheduled for next Wednesday, so hopefully that appointment will work out. If any of my appointments had to be rescheduled, this was probably the best one! I would've been upset if my previous appointments hadn't worked out, but we already know that Monday's ultrasound went really well and there's no cause for concern there. I think today we would have discussed whether or not to do the NT screen, but I'm 9 weeks today so we have time for that. I think it has to be done between 11 and 13 weeks, so there's no massive rush to discuss it with my OB.
Honestly, I'm just glad that we weren't sitting in the waiting room for ages before finding out my OB wasn't there. That would've sucked! When I see her next Wednesday, I'll be very nearly 10 weeks... I wonder if she'll use the doppler to see if we can hear the heartbeat. Maybe it'll still be too early for that, I don't know.
I was craving Chinese food (which is weird for me, I never usually crave that!) so we went out to a nice little Chinese restaurant. It was so good, but neither of us could finish our meals so we had to bring them home. That's lunch tomorrow sorted! :)
Honestly, I'm just glad that we weren't sitting in the waiting room for ages before finding out my OB wasn't there. That would've sucked! When I see her next Wednesday, I'll be very nearly 10 weeks... I wonder if she'll use the doppler to see if we can hear the heartbeat. Maybe it'll still be too early for that, I don't know.
I was craving Chinese food (which is weird for me, I never usually crave that!) so we went out to a nice little Chinese restaurant. It was so good, but neither of us could finish our meals so we had to bring them home. That's lunch tomorrow sorted! :)
Monday, October 8, 2012
Ultrasound update!
Our ultrasound went very well, I'm happy to say. I was so anxious beforehand, but as soon as we saw our baby on the screen that all went away! By LMP I'm 8 weeks 2 days, but our baby is measuring 8 weeks 4 days so we have a new due date: 5/16/13. It's only a couple of days ahead, but I'm just so glad it wasn't measuring smaller than it should be. The heartbeat is nice and strong at 184 beats per minute! We're both thrilled. We only got one picture, but the experience was amazing. I can't begin to describe how relieved I am that everything looks wonderful - it's a great feeling after worrying all this time!
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| Head on the left, butt on the right! |
Sunday, October 7, 2012
First ultrasound tomorrow
As the title suggests, our first ultrasound is tomorrow! I'm so excited! And pretty nervous - not about the actual ultrasound procedure, but about what we might find out. My hubby thinks everything will be perfect, so I'm trying to take his lead! I'll be 8 weeks and 2 or 3 days (8w2d by LMP, 8w3d by ovulation). I've seen some pretty cool ultrasound pictures from around 8 weeks gestation, so I'm hoping that we'll be able to see something vaguely resembling a tiny human! More than anything though, we just want to see a nice strong heartbeat and an appropriately-sized little bean.
Any positive thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I'll post with an update tomorrow evening, hopefully with happy news! :)
Any positive thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I'll post with an update tomorrow evening, hopefully with happy news! :)
Friday, October 5, 2012
Monday, October 1, 2012
Clingy pug
For the past few days, our pug Suzie has been super clingy to me. OK, anyone who knows pugs knows they're clingy to begin with - people often call them "Velcro dogs" - but Suzie loves nothing more than to curl up on or near my belly, and she normally doesn't do that. It could be a coincidence, but I think she senses something. Maybe my pheromones are different, or something. I'm not complaining though, it's nice! :)
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