Thursdays appointment - April 22nd

This was just a routine checkup with the Dr. He tried listening to the baby using the Doppler and this time it worked, though it did take a few minutes to find a heartbeat. This was really all we had come to do. It was so great hearing the heartbeat as I had not heard it for 4 weeks, and Josh 5 weeks.

I asked him about different stretching pains and also whether I had to start sleeping in a certain position. Apparently after 24 weeks I have to avoid sleeping on my back, and start favouring my right hand side.

I mentioned to him how at 12 weeks the U/S technician had said if she was available she would do a quick gender U/S scan to see if the baby was cooperating and we could tell the sex. Off he went to find out and luckily she was free!!

She was able to tell us almost immediately (good cooperative baby!). The babys heartbeat was 150bpm. I'm not going to post the sex here as there are some people who follow this who I know do not want to find out!!

We had already been looking at bedding for the nursery so that night we went to make our final choice!!

First round of test results

During my last few appointments I had a ton of tests done. The first was for my thyroid and the result came back today as "Your TSH, thyroid-stimulating-hormone, was in normal range." Yippee!!

The second lot of bloodwork done was relating to the Nuchal Translucency test. Todays results was "Your first trimester blood test done with the nuchal thickness ultrasound was normal".

On Thursday I have my final part of the screening. They will measure my blood level of four pregnancy-associated substances, alpha-fetoprotein, estriol, HCG, and inhibin A.

Also on Thursday we hope to find out the sex of the baby!! For a long time I thought it was a girl, now I'm not so sure. We truly don't mind; we just want a healthy and happy baby.

Next Thursday, 29th, we are meant to be traveling to England. Hopefully the clouds of volcanic ash will have all cleared by then as after 24 weeks I'm not allowed to travel. As it stands right now, if we do go, then when I return I will be just over 19 weeks so we really can't leave it too much later. Fingers crossed all will be ok.

Starting the 2nd Trimester

I am now at the point of starting my 2nd trimester. It seemed like it was going to take forever to get here.

The baby is now mainly developed, it just needs to do alot of growing.

My next appointment is April 22nd, when we meet with the Dr for a checkup. I will be almost 17 weeks at this point. We are hoping to go to England the following week and would like to know the sex of the baby before we travel so we can go baby clothes shopping there!! Hopefully the Dr can do a quick scan and tell us.

I found this Day by Day guide of the stages of pregnancy online. It has a countdown of how many days have gone by and how many left!! - Day by Day guide. It seems unbelievable the amount of time which has already passed by.

Nuchal Translucency (BUN test)

Today I had the test for Downs Syndrome. I was very anxious prior to the test though confident that everything would be fine. Everything was in my favour, especially age.

The baby was not as active as the other week, though it was in the best position for the test.

First the babys nose is checked to see if there is sufficient bone the whole way down. Babys who have Downs only have a dot of bone at the end of their nose. In the first picture you can see that there is a white line down the whole length of the nose which is the bone.

The second test which is performed is a measurement is taken at the back of the neck to measure the nuchal fold. This should be less than 3.0mm. Anything between 3.0mm and 3.5mm is to be of concern. Our babys was measuring at 1.2mm, or perfect as the U/S technician said!

The babys heartbeat today was 156 bpm. I was meant to be 12 weeks and 3 days, though the baby was measuring slightly larger at 12 weeks and 6 days.

We got some great shots of the baby head on. There has been so much development in just the past 9 days with the bones. In the first picture the knuckles can be clearly seen on the raised hand. The U/S technician was able to show us the full spine with the vertebrae forming, clearer pictures of the legs and arms, and more bones of the skull.

Eventually the baby started moving more (I think we woke it up!) and like last week, it started spinning around - last picture.

Late night scare

On Friday March 19th, whilst at home, I suddenly noticed some bleeding. Even though its now such a habit for me to check each time I go to the bathroom, it was still a huge shock.

I phoned the on-call doctor who told me if it got a lot worse or became bright red, then I had to go straight to the ER. If there was no change by the morning, I had to come in to the doctors office and have an ultrasound done just to verify things were ok.

By the time I had gone to bed, everything was fine and I also checked in the middle of the night.

By the morning, I was having mild cramps and some back pain. We went to the doctors office at around 11am, both very nervous.

Everything was perfect. The doctor said it is probably still the placenta forming and it is just bursting a few blood vessels during the formation. The placenta, amniotic sack, amniotic fluid, and baby all looked perfect.

The baby was measuring at 4.3cm (11weeks and 1 day). We heard the heartbeat at 162bpm.

This baby was ACTIVE. It was kicking its little legs and waving its little arms and was constantly turning around. It was never still!! I dread to think how much sleep I am going to get in the last part of my pregnancy!

The first picture shows the baby waving its arms and legs around.
The second picture shows the baby laying belly first with its butt in the air!!
The third picture shows the top half of the baby front on, with its little alien looking head.
The fourth picture shows the baby giving the royal wave!!

9 Weeks

March 11th was my first scan at the OB clinic. It was nerve racking as I was so anxious to see what the baby now looked like. The last time we had seen it was when I was 6 weeks, 3 days.

The new Dr was very friendly. I thought it was going to be a little odd having a male OB, but he was so kind and was one of the best doctors around; we wanted the best for our baby.

He started by doing a few routine checks and asking a few questions, and then tried to find the baby's heartbeat using the Doppler Machine, though not able to detect any HB, jut static. He said not to worry as finding it using the small machine at such as early stage is rare, and also the baby is still very low.

We went into the Ultrasound room, where he did an U/S, and bingo! One perfect heartbeat. The baby's arms and legs were just starting to form, they were just tiny little buds. It all looked so different from just 3 weeks ago. The baby was measuring at 9 weeks 6 days.

Unfortunately I was unable to get a picture as it was so quick!

Not too keen on this Morning Sickness!

I started to feel sick very early on, around about 5 weeks, though things definitely got worse around 6 1/2 weeks.

Luckily I have not really been sick that often, though permanently feel like I have just stepped off a roller coaster!

There are definitely certain foods which make me feel nauseous more than others. Bananas and crackers have become my best friends, however any kind of Italian tomato oily rich sauce is enough to turn my stomach; the smell, the thought, anything! So long are my little pasta and sauce lunches I was taking to work - Josh is fed up with eating them!