6 more days

Yesterday I hit 12 weeks!  I can't believe that this may just be a viable pregnancy.  I had an OB appointment this morning and she says that once I hit 13 weeks (only SIX MORE DAYS!) I'm in the clear.  Bring on next Wednesday!

Going into this appointment I knew that I was seeing the doctor, but also knew that an ultrasound wasn't scheduled.  I kept thinking, but how will I know if everything is going okay?  What are we going to discuss?  Little did I know that she would bring out the hand-held doppler.  However, she couldn't find the heartbeat.  Surprisingly enough, I wasn't worried that she couldn't find the heartbeat, but I think that it was actually good to see her not find anything. I had been wanting to buy a home doppler, but if she can't find a heartbeat, how am I supposed to find one?  So off we went to the ultrasound room which was more than fine with me-another chance to see the baby!

Baby is looking great- measuring on time or slightly ahead of schedule.  Lots of waving and moving around today (must have been the orange juice I drank this morning) and a strong heartbeat. My SCH is almost completely gone (YES!!!) so I can start working exercise back into my day and CP and I can start to "do stuff" again.

Next week I'm out in DC for a conference but needed to try to fit the BUN test in before I left because the hospital can only do it between 11 weeks and 14 weeks.  This test carries no risk to me or the baby and I was hesitant to do an amniocentesis.  Don't know what the BUN test is?  I didn't know either!

First trimester screening (also referred to as BUN test) is designed for women interested in determining whether their baby is at an increased risk for Down syndrome and Trisomy 18.  These are both chromosomal abnormalities that result from the presence of an extra chromosome in every cell of the body.  

• The ultrasound demonstrates a fetal heartbeat and determines gestational age.  Then, the amount of fluid accumulation behind the neck of the baby, called nuchal translucency (NT), is measured. 
• A blood specimen is analyzed for two chemicals called Beta human chorionic gonadotropin (free Beta), and pregnancy associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) which are normally found in the blood of all pregnant women. 
• The results of the ultrasound exam will be combined with the results of the blood test to estimate a specific risk, high or low, for Down syndrome and Trisomies 18 and 13.  

I'm glad that I was able to fit the BUN test in next Tuesday before my flight as it is one more chance to see the baby before I tell a few close friends in DC the good news!  

Good and bad news

First off, I am WAY BEHIND in my blog reading.  I have been in training for what seems like the past three weeks and once I get home all I want to do is collapse on the couch.  I'll try to catch up soon!

I'll start with the bad news. Last weekend we headed up to MI to hang out with my parents and my sister/her boyfriend.  For the past few weeks we have been careful to limit Fuzzy Britches' activity as after running she tends to limp. Not wanting something bad to happen, I took both her and Buster out to play and gave her one of the squeaky toys so that she would just lay down and relax in the shade while I threw around a different ball for Buster.  Well, that worked out well for a while, but suddenly she got up and started running.  Halfway there she pulled up and wouldn't put any weight on her back right leg.

I called CP out of the house and we watched her hobble around on three legs and thought "sh*t.  This can't be good."  We decided to get her inside and have her rest a bit before making a decision on whether to take her to an emergency vet or not.  A few hours later, she was still putting no weight on her leg and we took her in.  The poor girl yelped through the examination of her leg and hip and the vet thought that she likely partially tore her right knee ligament and could have something wrong with her hips (arthritis?).

Sometime between the emergency vet visit on Saturday and a visit with our regular vet at home on Monday morning, she completely tore her ACL.  This morning I took her in to the specialist for ACL surgery.  She won't be able to come home until tomorrow and she now has to look forward to three months of very limited activities.  At least she is an older and therefore lazier dog.....

This is Fuzzy Britches passed out from the prodding and the pain meds....usually she wouldn't be able to stand being so close let along sleeping on CP's smelly shoes

Her X-rays this morning show little arthritis, but her muscle mass on both hind legs is lacking.  The surgeon thinks that she may tear the left hind knee in about 6-12 months.  *sigh*


So to end this email on a better note, now for the good news.  I went in for an ultrasound on Monday and my SCH is finally getting smaller!  WOO HOO!  Heartbeat looks great and the baby is measuring two days ahead.  This was the first time that I had an abdominal scan- man that is much better than the dildo cam!  The ultrasound tech did have to press down pretty hard on my stomach which made the baby bounce around.  That was super cool to see that- and CP was able to come and see it as well!

Think good surgery thoughts for Fuzzy Britches today!!

Cheese please

As I mentioned on Monday, I am ALL about cheese right now.  The best kind?  Hot melted cheese.  So when CP and I were looking for a salad recipe to make for dinner on Sunday night with my parents, we came across a rye berry, leek, sun-dried tomato salad with broiled cheese on top?  I was sold.

Then CP left for Puerto Rico (thankfully he is back tonight) and I had some leftover cheese.  So I decided just to make the cheese part of the salad.  Totally worth it.

Want an easy appetizer or something quick to put on top of bread?  This is your dish.  As always, sorry for the crappy iPhone pictures because god knows I'll never be a food blogger.  

Ingredients

1/4 lb of haloumi cheese (we couldn't find this but a good and easier-to-find substitute is queso blanco)

1.5 tsp of oregano and thyme

1/4 tsp of black pepper (we used white)

2 tsp of olive oil (we used the oil from the sun-dried tomato bottle)

*note- the cheese is already salty so no salt is needed in this recipe*

Directions

1. Place a rack 6 inches from the heat source and put your oven on broil.

2. Cut the cheese into thin slices and put them on a plate.

3. Brush cheese with olive oil, then sprinkle with herbs and pepper.

4. Turn cheese over and brush the other side with olive oil, then sprinkle with herbs and pepper.

5. Transfer the cheese to a broiler pan (we lined it with foil for easy clean up) and cook for 5 minutes or less- basically until brown.  Turn once during cooking.

As you can see I came VERY close to burning these!

The verdict?  Positively delicious!!

Feelings

Lately I have been having a lot of thoughts and feelings about this pregnancy.

Not belonging: I felt out of place and had a weird feeling when I went to see the OB last week.  Despite having my records from my RE faxed over that clearly stated that I was pregnant, I felt like I didn't belong. Later when I got my ultrasound done, my OB came in to check on how things were going. I know she wanted to see how the SCH was doing and I really appreciate that she is going to be more involved than my RE, but a thought passed through my mind that she came in because she didn't really believe that I was pregnant and had to see for herself.  Maybe I will soon start to believe that I am actually pregnant?  Maybe it  is because I don't have morning sickness that I go about my day thinking that everything is normal and that I am not pregnant?  Other than my bigger boobs and my constant need to pee, I really feel very normal.  Maybe the realization that I am pregnant won't hit me until I have a baby belly?  Until then I guess I am going to feel like a fake.

Guilt: When I would come back from RESOLVE meetings I would sometimes tell CP about some of the other women/couples. My theory was that I knew how we might have a potentially long and tough road ahead with IVF from reading blogger stories and from hearing stories of women in the RESOLVE group. I was trying to prepare him for the possibility that things wouldn't go well. Well, what do you know- I get pregnant on the first IVF try. I know that I am incredibly lucky and I obviously wouldn't want it any other way, but I also feel like CP doesn't get how hard this process is for some couples. Sure we didn't have a positive pregnancy test for almost three years....but I still feel as if we got off easy (forgetting the major surgery I had to have of course).  I didn't get completely hormonal from the IVF drugs, I didn't get OHSS, I wasn't in a lot of pain after the retrieval, and we had no problems with the transfer.  Of course I am happy about all of those things, but maybe I'm feeling a little guilty because so far the IVF process has been drama-free.  Other than the SCH, I'm not sure this could have gone any better?  And I still feel guilty about all of you that have been trying so hard- why was I lucky on my first shot?

Protective: As we inch closer and closer to the end of the first trimester, I get more and more protective of the pregnancy (despite still not believing that there is in fact a baby in me). My worry that the pregnancy will be snatched away at the last minute also increases. There is nothing I can do about it and I really try to stay positive, but there is still a chance of miscarrying from a chromosomal abnormality.  Tomorrow I will be 10 weeks and I'm just really worried that we will come so close to then be crushed at the last second.  I could see this being a theme throughout the pregnancy if it continues....getting more and more nervous as I get closer to milestones such as big ultrasounds, viability, and of course delivery.

Are any of these normal feelings?

New food

This weekend CP and I tried Guatemalan food for the first time.  He has been traveling to a number of Latin American countries for work and has discovered papusas.  He then took it upon himself to drive us down to a papusa restaurant highly rated by Yelpers for lunch on Saturday.  Good thing I still have my appetite these days!

I started out by getting a banana shake which was not as thick as a milkshake, but refreshing and light.  The restaurant also brought us hot horchata which I had never had before.  It's a drink that has rice in it and it's sweet and delicious.

Horchata picture from here (link includes recipe) 

When CP first described papusas they sounded like empanadas which I LOVED when I lived in Argentina, but when I tasted them they are more like quesadillas.  Except instead of tortillas on the outside, the "dough" is masa harina (what is used in tamales).  My papusa was a vegetarian which CP promised would have a lot of cheese (right now I'm really big on cheese), along with zucchini in it.  He got one with Guatemalan flowers in it and then one with chicharrones (aka fried pork belly).  Papusas usually come with what looks like a coleslaw mix to put on top.  

Picture from here

I had to take some of my meal home because the shake, chips and salsa and the horchata drink filled me up before my meal even arrived!  The best part was the meal was so inexpensive!!

I can definitely see CP and I trying to make papusas in the near future.  If you want an easy recipe I found one here.  As with empanadas and tamales, you could easily put whatever you want inside the dough!

Have you tried some new foods recently?

First OB appointment

Today was my first appointment with my OB. A lot of my blood work had been done previously through my RE so I only had to give two vials of blood and a urine sample.  Today they collected a "clean" urine sample which meant wiping myself with a wetnap and then collecting urine midstream.  In all future appointments I can just give a regular urine sample.

 

My new doctor was very nice.  We discussed how things were going so far- and she agreed with Jen and Just Me- if I'm already 9+ weeks along and I don't have any nausea I am most likely good to go.  WOO HOO!  

 

*I asked her how big my boobs will get and she said that they will usually grow through the first trimester, then even out through the rest of my pregnancy until my milk comes in.  Based on this, I may try to buy one bra for now and then get a few bigger ones when I'm into the second trimester. 

 

*We touched on the fact that I need to have a C-section.  They usually schedule it somewhere between 39 and 40 weeks, but if I start going into labor early I will go in for an emergency C-section whenever that happens (hopefully not). 

 

*Other than needing a C-section, my fibroid surgery should not affect the pregnancy in any way. 

 

*There are no specific exercises I should be doing to help me better prepare for a C-section.

 

*My two fibroids are still hanging out.  Best case scenario they stay the same size (which happens in about 1/3 of patients).  If they grow (which happens in another 1/3 of patients) that could cause me some pain, and if they shrink I could also be in some pain (the final 1/3 of patients).  So I guess I'm hoping they just hang out in there and decide to stay the same size.

 

*CP and I have to start thinking about the screening and diagnostic tests.  My doctor recommended the BUN screening which is a blood test and ultrasound to determine the risk of Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18 and Trisomy 13.  The blood test measures the amount of certain pregnancy-related chemicals and the ultrasound looks at the thickness of the back of the fetal neck and for the presence of a nasal bone.  There is a newer test that some insurance companies don't cover, but it is also a blood test. 

 

*Because I am a carrier for pseudocholesterese deficiency, the OB did recommend that CP get screened for it.

 

*Heartburn is something that I am fairly used to but the OB recommended that I NOT use the charcoal pills that I am used to using (thankfully I used them once, then realized that it said to ask a doctor and I haven't used them since)- at least not in the first trimester. 

 

*I did get weighed but the doctor didn't say anything about it- maybe they wait until after you get out of the first trimester to talk about how much weight a person should gain?

 

Of course the ultrasound, the thing that I was most worried about, was LAST.  I was nervous going into the ultrasound room- more nervous than I have been so far in this pregnancy.  I think that part of me was worried about not having any nausea, part of me was worried about the SCH, and then part of me is worried that everything is going well and I'm getting closer and closer to finishing the first trimester, that I might get devastating news.  :-(

 

However my fears were all for naught.  I quickly saw the baby but the heartbeat is getting harder to see.  In the past week the baby went from looking like a beluga whale to looking like a Teddy Graham (mmmmm Teddy Grahams).  Size is right on target and the baby was moving around the entire ultrasound.  I even got to hear the heartbeat!!  CP is in CA and couldn't make this appointment so I recorded video for him.  :-)  SO COOL.

 

The good/bad news is that the SCH is still there and still the same size.  Good that it didn't get any bigger, bad that it didn't get any smaller.  I'm to call about any bleeding, but if everything stays good then my next ultrasound is on the 13th.

 

Oh and I finally have a due date- 12/2/13!  I'm not sure if that is right because I noticed that they have my last period as 2/25/13 when it was 2/27/13....but two days off isn't a big deal.  So it looks like my C-section will get scheduled for sometime in late November!

9 weeks today

Today I am 9 weeks pregnant.  I truly can't believe that I only have one more week to go until I'm in the double digits!!  I had a huge meeting for work today that has occupied much of my brain for the past few weeks (thankfully it went well!) so I'm giving you bullets today:

*So far, so good with the SCH. I was VERY careful on Thursday and Friday and was frankly pretty bored at home while CP and his family went galavanting around the city of Chicago.  I did join them at the Chicago Botanic Gardens on Saturday, but it was only because CP wheeled me around in a wheelchair all day.  I felt like the biggest idiot, but it did allow me to get out of the house and see some great flowers!  If you were there, I was the annoyed woman who was begging their husband to stop pretending to let me roll down hills or knock me into things.  Ahhhh CP.

*On Monday I graduated from my RE's office.  It was only the third time actually meeting my doctor as she didn't do anything in my IVF process.  Oh well- I always said that as long as she got me pregnant I didn't care!!

*I donated my leftover Gonal-f and Menopur to my clinic before CP's family came into town.  I am also hoping it gives me some good karma as the meds go towards patients that are part of the self-pay program.

*Tomorrow I have my first appointment with my new OB.  Looking forward to an ultrasound that hopefully shows the SCH getting better. It's weird that I will now have a "regular-person" doctor.

*As of this morning I have not gained one pound in this pregnancy- which is pretty amazing seeing as if I haven't been able to work out at all this week and all I seem to want to eat is carbs (mmmm bagels for breakfast).  Then again, I have been eating fruit like it is my job.

*I don't have a ton of symptoms right now other than being tired, LARGE BOOBS (I'm so scared of what they may become) and frequent peeing- especially at night.  If I could skip over the nausea/puking part of the first trimester that would be fabulous!  I probably also have some of the heartburn/acid reflux that a lot of pregnant women get, but that was fairly normal for me before I got pregnant so not much has changed.

*I have been annoyed at how many people I have had to tell about my pregnancy so early on before I have been able to tell good friends about it.  My hair dresser and dentist both wanted to chat about how I was feeling and general pregnancy stuff but I didn't need or want the entire salon and dentist office to know that I was pregnant.  I told both of them that it was really early in hopes of shutting them up, but it didn't help much.  They probably thought that the pregnancy was an accident or something by the sour puss look on my face- little did they know how long we have been working for this!  I'm not really worried about jinxing the pregnancy, but I still have another month or so before I can relax a bit more. 

Anyway, I am desperately behind my Reader so I'm sorry if my comments are a few days late!!