One down, two to go

Trimesters that is.

I went in for my 14w appointment yesterday and met a new doctor in the practice. She congratulated me on “making it to the big leagues” and beginning the second trimester. She really doesn’t have any idea what an amazing accomplishment this milestone is for me.

We did my second blood glucose test, since they lost the first one. Took my weight and blood pressure, and listened to baby on the Doppler. She said all of my blood work looks great, but that they want to continue to monitor my thyroid every 4 weeks to make sure it remains stable.

She let me know that the office is at my beck and call, and if I ever have any problems, issues, concerns, to call day-or-night. It is nice to know I won’t be left in the dark. The only negative about my OB’s practice is that they have 5 or 6 doctors that rotate being on-call; therefore, I have no idea who I will be delivering with. That said I am rotating appointments with all of the OBs as I progress so I can at least have a comfort level with each of them.

My next OB appointment is scheduled for 18 weeks and hopefully it is as quick and easy as this one.

So far, all is well. I continue to pray daily for a safe and healthy baby.

Progression of d'Bump

I really do not have much of a "bump" to show, but would like to share my monthly "progression" pictures form the first trimester. 


There isn't much of a difference so far, but I've noticed my clothes fitting tighter and my belly being a little harder to hide these days.

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

Letting myself get excited; finally!

As little BB has met each milestone, I’ve let myself get a little more optimistic, but after yesterday’s appointment, I am flat out excited.

After my morning fiascos, Mr.A and I went to the Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM), Perinatal Specialist yesterday afternoon. It was more than an hour away, and the waiting room was jam packed.

Mr.A and I had originally decided to opt out of the First Trimester (NT Scan) Screening. The scan looks for markers that indicate a higher risk for Downs Syndrome and Trisomy 13 and 18. We knew that even with a positive result, it wouldn’t change our minds about the pregnancy or our baby.

When we entered the room, to our surprise it wasn’t a “consult” room at all, but an ultrasound room. The tech entered, and said merely that the doctor highly recommended the test, but that it was our choice if we wanted to forego it. The possibility of seeing BB again outweighed our concerns of a false positive, so we decided to give it a go.

This ultrasound was my first “on top of the belly”, and it was really nice not to have to show the world my goods.

She immediately found little BB kicking and squirming away. He/she was so active; moving arms, legs, flipping around, scrunching up and stretching out. It was incredible!  The little blob turned gummy bear, actually looks and acts like a little, tiny baby.  Their equipment was phenomenal, and they could see the blood flow through BB’s major organs, see the heart and brain, and even down to his/her tiny little fingers.

They printed a couple of photos, but they were slightly bent up in my purse so the scanned images aren’t great. See for yourself:

The doctor joined us, and completed my NT Scan. Little BB’s measurement was 1.3mm, completely normal. The doctor was sweet and told me several times that I have a perfect little baby, and that it is time to let myself get excited; so I am.

Edited to Add: The MFM called me to give me the results from our scan. Our odds of having a child with Downs Syndrome based solely on age, was 1 in 906; after the scan, those odds are now 1 in over 10,000. The odds of having a child with Trisomy 13 or 18 were 1:1,666, and are now 1 in over 10,000. She said these are the best possible results we could get, so we are beyond thrilled.

Mondays are Rough

Yesterday started out rough. Early in the day, I called my OB’s office to see if they had received my records from my RE. I was furious when they said they did not. While I was talking with the nurse, I decided to ask her for my results from my 1Hr Glucose test I took May 25^th. After being put through to a couple of different people’s voicemail, I finally got a call back that they had either “lost or mishandled” my blood specimen, and I would need to repeat the test.

::insert nearly hysterical breakdown here::

First, I was already upset with my RE’s office for their complete incompetence when it comes to transferring records; I mean 5 weeks, really!?  Then, I was upset that not only did they lose or mishandle  my blood, and  I would have to repeat the test, but worse than that, they didn’t even know it until I asked. Before I left the day of the 1Hr test, the phlebotomist specifically said, “You don’t need to call for the results, if you don’t receive a call, everything is good to go.”

I’ve always made an effort to be my own advocate in my healthcare, and always ask others to do the same for themselves, but now, I am afraid our healthcare system is even more messed up than I originally thought. It is funny though, all of this happened and I guarantee my insurance will still get the bill for the blood work – because that is how everything works. 

Maybe my hormones are out of whack – well never mind, I know they are – but goodness gracious people, I shouldn’t have to do my job and yours too.

I am back, with news.

I've been hesitant to write the last couple of months, but promise this is the end of my hiatus.

We found out on April 9th that, surprise!, I am pregnant. Obviously this is such an incredible surprise and blessing, but is even more amazing that it happened just before my incredibly expensive IF coverage kicked in at work.

As expected, I've been terrified of loosing this one too and waited a while before telling even my closest family and friends. Tomorrow I will be 12 weeks pregnant and officially "out" to those closest to us.

I am still scared, but am finally allowing myself to get a little excited for our little snow baby due December 20th. Thus far, I've experienced all the common pregnancy symptoms and have welcomed even the gross ones. My bloodwork and ultrasounds have all been very good so far and I will continue to pray everyday, multiple times per day that our snow baby stays safe and healthy throughout the pregnancy.

I have graduated from my RE's office to my OB. However, she wants me to go to a consult with a Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) specialist next Monday since she has officially dubbed me high risk. I promise to keep you updated on everything, but for now, I am pregnant and I LOVE my baby.