Stubborn little thing :)

I'll start with my OB appointment yesterday. I have read wonderful things about this doctor, but also that the wait is terribly long...and it was! I was talking to two women, each on their second baby and using this OB for the second time. They told me the best time to come is at 2pm after lunch (so that's when I scheduled my next appt). Also, one of the women was a teacher and she told me that she would never take time off work for the OB...just to make a 3:30 appt and know that there's a wait anyway so to arrive as soon as possible after work....good advice.

The OB was wonderfully nice! Friendly, and totally supportive of my choice to become a Choice Mom. He told me he was excited to get to know me and how I came to be on this journey. I had to do the urine protein test (as I will always do), I got weighed, had my blood pressure checked...and I got to hear the baby's heartbeat....he said it might be too early to hear...that normally he has to search for it...but there it was...loud and clear and strong :) And that was my appointment!

Today was my 12 week u/s. My mom and I arrived right at 12:30....I was bursting already when I got there...I peed, and peed, and peed some more...and when the tech took me only about 10 minutes later, she let me pee again. She wasn't going to do an internal, but said I don't need to be so full.

This is the first part of the IPS test...full u/s but needing to measure the thickness of the back of the neck. And wouldn't you know, my baby was sleeping and upside down....but so cute...the little legs dangling in the air...that's the picture I wish she had given me! She could not get the back of the neck. She had me pee it all out, thinking my bladder could be the culprit...I had to cough and giggle and cough some more....nothing...she had me walk up and down in the hallway...the nurse suggested sugar water and I drank that..she even tried an internal u/s. It's a good thing my appointment was at 12:30, b/c she had to get the picture that day and she was leaving at 3pm. My poor mom was asked to stay in the hallway the whole time...she doesn't get called in until the measurements are all finished. Finally, she suggested I go outside and eat my lunch (which was in the car) and walk around a little (so we went to the convenience store in the same plaza and I bought a chocolate bar - I never buy or eat chocolate bars). At 2:30 we tried again....internally first....NOTHING! So, she tried once more externally...and SHE GOT THE IMAGE AND THE MEASUREMENT! My pelvic bone is going to hurt so much tomorrow from the pushing...and she got the measurement right from the bone area.

After all of that, I went to see the doctor. My baby is measuring at 12w1d and I'm at 12w3d (which I knew all along, but then 2 u/s ago they told me I was one day earlier, so I'd been counting today as 12w2d, but now the RE went back to my original calculation of 12w3d)....so my baby is only lagging by 2d...hopefully that's okay...The heartbeat was at 149bpm which is great...he said anywhere between 140 and 160 is the range. And the back of the neck is in the perfect range too...so first part of IPS is over. Tomorrow I will go for the b/w for the second part of the test, and then in week 16 I go for the final b/w....I go back on week 18 for the results...unless I hear from the company compiling the results first...in which case, that's bad news...well, not terrible...just meaning I need an amnio...hopefully the fact that the neck is fine is a good first start.

And, my placenta has attached in the right place....BUT....now I need to be monitored b/c it goes right down beside the cervix....now it's fine, but if it starts to cover the cervix, I will have Placenta Previa - will need to research that more....in which case I will need to go on bed rest eventually I think and watch for bleeding...in other words, I've started to slowly work out again, and I was thinking of trying more than I'm doing...but now I don't want to risk anything. I'll mention all of this to my OB in 4 weeks.

So that's the update....I went to the movies tonight with some girls...the same ones that were smoking cigars on the weekend....we went for dinner first on a patio and they wanted their cigars...but I asked them not to. One of them said, "you never used to have a problem with this" and I said, "I just can't be around it right now." But, I didn't tell them yet. I will tell one close friend on Thursday...this is the friend that will be the most hurt by my not sharing earlier...she's been trying for 3 years (2 years with fertility clinics) and all around her, her friends are getting pregnant. But I've been her listening ear through everything...and yet I stayed quiet....this will be the hardest friend to tell...I was going to wait for the 21st when we are going to the theatre and then for dinner after, but I don't think it's fair to wait that long. This way she has 2 weeks to try to deal with my pregnancy before we go out again. I hope it goes well....then I'm telling a pregnant friend on Sunday...after that, I'm starting my reveal :)