Brother or Sister (the long DETAILED version!)

(Written on 4/3/2012)
I thought that today I should start to document this pregnancy! This baby is 10 weeks and 1 day old today, so I need to get on it. Here's what has gone on so far:

Conception
This time around I used an ovulation test. I have never done that before, but my cycles were so off that I figured I had better! I was really nervous about it because you take a test everyday for seven days, and mine was not positive until the very last day. But it did help to see where I was in my cycle, so I do recommend it. After the test, well - you know the rest. :)

Finding Out
About one week after the possible conception, I was "sure" I was not pregnant already. I had gotten this odd, 5-hour "flu" one Saturday morning and I felt a little nauseated from it, but I determined that I had NO pregnancy symptoms. So, on day 28 of my cycle I decided to take a pregnancy test so I could "put myself out of my misery" for the next few days until my period started. Imagine my surprise when my early prediction test had two little pink lines!! One line was faint, but it was certainly there. I was in absolute shock. First I was really happy . . . then I completely panicked. My thoughts were along the lines of "What do you mean I'm pregnant? I don't have any symptoms?!"

By this time, rationality took over. I had never had a positive test at 28 days before, so that was encouraging. I also realized that my strange 5-hour "flu" was probably me feeling pregnant for the first time, and the short pangs of nausea I had since then that I had attributed to the "flu" were also probably early signs.

I immediately thanked God for this baby, and I also prayed that this pregnancy would come "with a vengeance" - all the morning sickness, sore boobs, and whatever other signs and symptoms He could throw at me. I prayed for this because I believed it would set my heart at ease. One thing I did not pray for was "no blood", which is usually my first prayer! I don't know why I didn't instantly go there, but as of yet I have had NO BLOOD AT ALL. (*knock on wood*) This is the first pregnancy I have had with absolutely no bleeding. I have had nightmares about bleeding, and they sometimes end in me waking up in a panic-attack. I am just thankful that God knows my heart and has given me something to feel confident about, particularly for times when I feel like I am not sure about what's going on in my body. He has helped me see that only HE is God, only HE knows what will happen, and I do not. It has given me loads of comfort and peace!!

So, I'm pregnant. And I found out at 28 days! Sheesh. I found out so early that I wanted to wait a little bit before I told any of my doctors, but I knew that was stupid. My thyroid doctor has to know immediately for one thing, and if I miscarried again I wanted it documented at my OBGYN. So I only waited two days and then called.

Doctors
I went in to my OBGYN for my first blood test, and they immediately did a qualitative test (to determine if I was pregnant) and also a quantitative test (to determine what my hCG levels were). Ever since I miscarried the first time, this is the drill with me and I was expecting it.

My initial hCG levels sent me spiraling into hopelessness. They were not critically low, but they were low. With my last miscarriage this happened initially, so I was crushed. I thought for sure it was going to happen just like it did before, and I prayed (and sulked!) a lot about it. This is when God started to gently remind me who He is.

I shouldn't have doubted - my levels went up immediately. I started to feel sick, my breasts changed, and I was extremely tired. And once I had confirmation that my hCG levels were going up, I called my thyroid doctor.

I was at the time taking one 25 mg pill of Levothyroxin (thyroid hormone replacement) every other day. When I told them I was pregnant and things were going well, they scheduled blood work immediately and told me to take my 25 mg pill each day instead. After my thyroid blood work, they called back and increased the dose to 50 mg each day. I have to get more blood work in 2 weeks to check and make sure all is well, but thyroid-wise I feel really good. I think things are where they should be at the moment.

Telling People
Initially I told my husband (of course) and sister, and a few days later I told a friend of mine and a cousin of mine, but that was about it. My sister is pregnant as well, so that was a lot of fun to tell her. I waited a few weeks before telling anyone else, and I have been telling people a little at a time. I told my mom when she was having a bad day in order to brighten it for her (it worked.) I told my dad and stepmother earlier than I intended to tell them because we were visiting with them, and I thought I should explain why I was sick and tired. That was a lot of fun as well - I gave my dad a birthday card that he had to read twice to really "get it". It was nice to tell my dad for his 60th birthday because we told Cory's dad about Nora for his 50th birthday. :)

I also agonized over when to tell a friend of mine that is having some major troubles trying to conceive. She was due to get the results of her first IVF the day after my first ultrasound. I wasn't sure if I should tell her before or after she got her results, and I eventually after much debating decided to tell her before since only God knew what would happen after. I am satisfied in my heart that I told her then, painful as it may have been, but in reality there is never EVER a good time to tell a friend that you got what they want so badly.

Early OB Ultrasound
I had an ultrasound scheduled at 8.5 weeks to check for a heartbeat. I am so glad that my doctor's office does this - really you have no idea how much it puts my heart at ease. I was a little nervous because the last time we did this I had a lifeless baby inside, but this time I thought it should be different.

Cory and I went in and the tech started by scaring the CRAP OUT OF US and saying "Oh, there's two things in the uterus . . . " !!!!! WHAT??!! After she realized we were freaking out, she explained that "only one of them is a baby". Oh, OK! lol Apparently the baby has a large yolk sac as well. (For the record, twins would have been OK with me, but there is nothing like that shock!)

Even though I knew it was probably there, seeing the heartbeat made me cry instantly. "Thank You Jesus for that heartbeat!!" It was very fast (176), and - to quote the tech - a "rockstar heartbeat". The baby measured a little small - Nora did too at first - and so they may move my due date back a few days, no surprise there. Right now I am due on October 29th, but they may move it to November 1st. I love that this baby is due in the fall!! :)

Telling More People
After the ultrasound I told a few more folks, my mother-in-law included. I really wanted Nora to have the experience of telling her since I knew her reaction would be an awesome experience for Nora to be a part of, so I bought Nora a "big sister" shirt and had her practice saying "I'm gonna be a big sister!" It took her awhile to get it out for my mother-in-law, but it was great when she did. I am glad Nora got to do that. :)

Panic
Two days after the ultrasound my biggest pregnancy symptom - the nausea - went completely away. No other pregnancy symptoms went away, but this was still cause for panic for me, at least initially. When I look at it now, I think it was not a bad thing - it happened to go away right as my allergies started to get really bad, so I only had to deal with one thing at a time. However, I kept watching my body closely in a state of alarm until I was sure this symptom wasn't disappearing because I was losing the baby.

Painting
A lot of people have been asking me if Cory is excited. Cory doesn't really get excited initially, and even less so this time because I put him to work right away and begged him to paint the baby's room already! :) (He painted it last weekend while Nora and I were gone in Texas.) I wanted to get a head start on things so I can space out what I am making and what I am organizing and what we are purchasing, so that was the first thing on my list. I honestly can't believe it's done already! Cory seriously rules. :)

Allergies
This allergy season has been very bad for me, even causing me to wheeze badly. I am miserable with eye itch and I look a mess from it. In the long run this won't matter at all, however right now I am suffering through it as best I can with as little medicine as possible for the sake of the baby - although I have had to take some Benadryl or Chlor-Trimeton when the wheezing has gotten really bad. Poor Nora's outside time sure has shortened, but she's surviving too! Hopefully in a few weeks this will be over and I won't have swollen, itchy, red eyes; a constantly running nose and cough; wheezing, especially at night; and an itchy mouth and nose. Ugh. I should buy stock in Kleenex right now, I have gone through so many boxes!

. . . . .

That about brings us to today! I have a doctor's appointment in 8 days to make sure there is still a heartbeat and to meet with the doctor for the first time this pregnancy. After that I will tell everyone that doesn't already know, and this post will go live.

I am so thankful for this pregnancy, and I would appreciate everyone's prayers that everything continues to go smoothly. After all that has happened, continuing to have a "normal" pregnancy would be great, but only God knows what will happen. It's in His hands!!

Until next time . . .

UPDATE 4/13/2012:
We had a doctor appointment on Wednesday, and it was good. One of the best parts was the reaction from the doctors and nurses, who were obviously as happy as I was that I was in the office for a GOOD REASON. :) Dr. D greeted me with a big thumbs-up, and the nurses chatted on about how exciting this is for me.

Then . . . I went in to the room and they started looking for the heartbeat with the Dopplar. It took four minutes to find it - a very LONG, SILENT four minutes. I started to hyperventilate while on the table, but I really should have known better. It always took a long time to find Nora's heartbeat at first too. Anyway, he DID find it, and it was 170 - still good and strong. :)

With that scare over, we discussed if I wanted to do a VBAC or not (NOT!) and he determined that we could talk about it more in the third trimester. He told me my new due date: November 1st, as expected! He also scheduled me for an ultrasound on the 24th to check for any potential delivery complications. I got some more bloodwork, and that was it! Dr. D is the BEST. He has always been so good at making me feel comfortable and I just don't know what I would do without him as my doctor.

I posted the announcement today on Facebook and on the blog. So now the news is "live". (I debated doing this later, but I am already showing, so what the hey.) This is what I posted:

I posted it on the day of the Cardinals home opener, so a lot of people really liked that. :) Cory thinks I am a huge dork because I got the idea for this while he was at work and wouldn't be home until late, so "Cory" in this photo is actually my mom! lol Only one person has noticed so far though (as far as I know). :)

Right after I posted the announcement, I got (what I thought was) a huge scare. My doctor's office called - and they only call when something is wrong. I freaked out because I missed their call and had to wait for them to return it. After 15 minutes of waiting, I called them and bypassed the message line to talk to an operator because I was such a wreck! "What could be wrong??"

Turns out: it was only that my vitamin D levels were low and I have to take a weekly supplement. WHEW! So basically I freaked out for nothing. Big surprise there!

And now, we're up to date again! :)

Until next time . . .