Sonogram #2

It is Friday morning and of course as usual we are running late to leave the house, so we are racing toward St. Agnes once again! At least this time we know where we are going, and have no doubts as to the best route to get to where we need to be!

We walk in the door and after a VERY short wait, are escorted back to the sonogram room. The tech has me pull my clothes away and starts the sonogram. She explains that this test is looking for signs of Down's Syndrome and Chromosomes 13 and 18. As she began the sonogram, we were in awe - it looks like a baby this time!


The changes in just 4 weeks are amazing and totally blew us away - we knew we were having a baby, but this sure does make it seem real!

The baby did not want to show us the back of his/her neck, so it took some maneuvering around on my part and waiting for cooperation! During the down time, this is the picture Lee took!

We realize we are not supposed to take any pictures during the exam, but no one told us we could not when the doctor left the room! They give us sonogram pictures but not printouts of the data as seen below...

Our next appointment with Dr. Boykin (OB) is coming up on October 6 - at this appointment she should be able to feel my uterus and hear the baby's heartbeat in her office! The following day we have our third appointment at the Diabetes Center! The weeks are moving quickly - 27 more weeks to go after this week!

Diabetes Center

This is just another appointment that has been made for me and I have been told I need to keep... Not much happened today, we talked about my food journals, sugar levels and insulin regimen and all seems good on the front.

Amy - the dietitian, pointed out that I need to look at the big picture of ALL the sugar levels and not get upset over a couple that are slightly out of range. They are going to keep varying not only because of food choices, but also because my hormone levels fluctuate day to day during pregnancy.

No changes in insulin at this time - 36 units of NPH in the morning, and then 14 until NPH at bedtime seems to keep the sugar levels in check. I do find myself NEEDING the every 2 hour meals or the do end up dipping lower than my comfort levels, but so far that mostly seems to only happen during the day when I do not eat soon enough - or at night if I do a high carb, low protein snack before bed...

It is all a guessing game, I don't go back for a month, we will see what happens!

Visit Number Two With The OB

Everything seems fine with the baby! Not really sure what exactly the OB appointments are for - she does a urine sample, so my guess is that she is going to monitor my hormone levels each month until later in the pregnancy, right now she just asks how everything is going, answers any of my questions and pokes my lower belly to see if she can feel the baby - she said she usually cannot until week 16, and of course she could not feel anything inside me yet...

Today's visit was pretty quiet without any real information although she did tell me we should not make any travel plans more than 2 weeks in advance and even then we need to plan on taking travel insurance because anything can change at any time during a high risk pregnancy.

Blood Pressure was good at this point, 114/72 so all is good until our next visit! Tomorrow I get to go back to the Diabetes Center and next Friday is our next sonogram!

I will be past my first trimester on Saturday, September 10th!

Our First "Picture"

The day of the sonogram has finally arrived! After a LONG journey since the GPS wanted to take us clear into the city instead of around the beltway we finally arrive at St. Agnes - barely on time! Thank goodness for Valet Parking, or we definitely would have been late!

We find our way to the Woman's Center and sign in and wait... and wait a while longer, do they not know making a pregnant woman drink 16+ ounces of fluid and then wait an extra 45 minutes is NOT a nice idea? Anyway... Finally they take us back to an ultrasound room.

The tech has me pull my shorts down halfway and covers me with a towel before putting the warm gel over me. Then comes the fun part! We get to watch on the screen as she shows us where my uterus is, ovaries, etc before showing us the baby! So far we can't see much, but we did get to hear his or her's heartbeat for the first time! It was beating 169 times a minute - which they told us was good!

Our pregnancy was also dated for 8 weeks and 5 days - making us due on March 24, 2012!

We were then off to meet with Dr. Pelham, who took us through due dates, diabetes management and insulin regiments - as well as told me I needed to go to the Diabetes Center next Friday - another appointment!

*Post written retroactively

Meeting Dr. Boykin

Today at 9:30am we met the woman who is to be our OB throughout the pregnancy! She is located in the same office as all of my other doctors, so we go straight there and wait until we are called. Fill in the required paperwork - all of which is the same everywhere, I am going to start making extra copies!

Finally we get back out the office, and I do the regular office visit, pee in a cup, pap smear and all of the lovely things a normal gynecological exam requires. And then on to the good stuff!

She gives me my bloodwork results, tells us my HcG levels are high enough to be 10 - 12 weeks pregnant, but it would not be abnormal to be less. She then sets up the appointment for us to go the Woman's Center at St. Agnes Hospital to have our first sonogram - in just a week!

This appointment left me wanting to know more! I expected a ton of, do this, don't do that... This is good, this is bad, and yet I got nothing but wait and talk to the MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine) specialist after your sonogram... So we wait impatiently...

*Post written retroactively

Doctor Confirms It!

It is Friday... Luckily a quiet day in the office with only myself and one other employee even scheduled to come in. I called Dr. Usha as soon as I got in the office and sat back to wait on her to return my call...

Finally, on my way to lunch she called me and asked me if I could make it in for 3pm... Of course I could, I waited all day for this! As expected she was as surprised as I was, because I had just 10 days prior assured her I was NOT pregnant.

When I got into the office, they had me weight in, pee in the little cup and wait in the exam room. The nurse came in, checked my temperature, blood pressure and heart rate - No change since 10 days prior, although I had lost 2lbs...

Dr. Usha came in, and said "Good News, It is Positive."

I was floored. I truly thought she would tell me the tests the night before were a mistake... I had no idea what to think, except for how much was going to change in the next few months... I called Lee when I left her office, and we agreed to still wait until we seen an OB - we had no idea how far along I was, by our best estimates from my last real period, it could be as many as 12 weeks.

Dr. Usha told me she would find me a OB who could get me in ASAP because my sugar levels were running high and I needed to get them under control as early as possible because of the potential complications.

She also started me on a sliding scale for insulin as well as checking my blood sugars 4 times a day - something I had hoped to never have to do again. But, you never know what life will throw at you, and this began a new step in our lives.

*Post written retroactively

August 4, 2011

Today was an interesting day...

After a couple of days of rolling the idea of possibly being pregnant around in my mind, at dinner we talked about it, and decided we needed to do a home test...

So on our way, we stop at CVS... After quite an agonizing decision, we bought a e.p.t Pregnancy Test - and made our way the rest of the way home. After doing the normal greeting the dog, feeding him, bathroom trip with him, we came in and read the directions.

It doesn't seem possible that by peeing on a stick, it can tell you one of the most amazing things you can ever learn, but, it does...

90 seconds or so after beginning the test, we had a result of pregnant - but wait, it says you must wait 3 minutes, so we continue staring at the stick waiting on the way NOT to appear. It never appeared. After a few minutes of panic, I decide the test is probably wrong, and I will do the second test the following morning. (Why do they sell tests in two packs? Who is going to believe a wrong test from the same brand, same lot?)

Less than an hour later, I need to know. Off to Rite Aid I drag Lee... I cannot wait until morning, and if one of their tests are wrong, why would I believe the first one? We get there just before closing and run in and find the tests. This time we still go for digital (no more looking for one line or two!!) but buy the First Response Brand - two brands can't be wrong, right?

Driving back home, we nervously wait for results. Lee is still convinced the first one must be wrong - although the internet reports 97% of all positive tests are accurate.

So, after once again reading the directions - this time we want NO room for errors! We take the test... Back to staring at a stick... And, this one says +Yes - no doubt, we are pregnant...

After an exciting evening, we decide it is bedtime, how much can we take? Tomorrow we shall call my PCP and get a formal test done and decide what is next...

*Post written retroactively