Baby #2 - 1st Appt.

Today, John, Logan and I had our first OB appointment for the new baby (hence why we shared the news with everybody today...we had told immediate family and a couple friends, but wanted to wait until we heard the heartbeat to tell everybody).

It was funny - since we had last been to this office in November, we still knew the nursing staff and doctors - it was great! The nurse usually meets with the couple for a half hour to go over all pregnancy do's and dont's and give some booklets and free samples. She was able to skip most of the speech (she still did a minor refresher, just in case). We told her to keep the booklets and free stuff as they were items we still had - no need to waste paper and clutter our house!

Arriving to the doctor's office I was 8 weeks 2 days and when I left I was 7 weeks...hm...interesting - this requires some backtracking. The original due date of 1/26/10 was decided since the first day of my last period was 4/21. Okay so, on May 27th when we found out we were pregnant, I immediately called the doctor to get a blood pregnancy test. They asked me why, as if I'd fallen out of the sky. I told them 'because I took a few home tests and they were positive and I would like more confirmation'. They proceeded to tell me that home tests are over 99% accurate and I shouldn't worry. They started setting up my 1st appt. Then I said 'well, here's another reason why I want this'. (Again, it was hard to believe after 5 years of negative tests...and with IVF you get a blood pregnancy tests every other day to calm your fears...and then a couple ultrasounds - it is a nice benefit of going through all the meds and procedures). Anywho, I told them that my progesterone with Logan was low and I wanted that tested as well so I could start the medication before it is too late (low progesterone can be a cause of a miscarriage, so if I know this ahead of time, I would love very much to prevent it). I told the nurse that while I was getting blood drawn, why not just do the HCG (pregnancy test). She somehow agreed to the whole thing. Great. I went to the lab close to home and they took my blood. I had to wait an entire day for the results. Now, this may not seem long to the typical person, however, again with IVF, every test result is returned by 3pm the same day - nice to not have to agonize and wait a whole night. So, that is why I had to do now.

I call the next day because I was too impatient to wait for their call. My progesterone was 15.2, which is borderline. Anything below 15 requires meds. Since I was borderline and needed for the last pregnancy they ordered a prescription. Okay, fine - not my favorite drug to take, but I do whatever I can to protect my child. I asked about the pregnancy test. Oh, while it was on the order form, the person running the test 'forgot'. Okay, I need to wait a whole other day. Arg.

I call the next day (again, too impatient....now I'm worried that them not doing the test is a sign that it is not all happening....seriously, why do I torture myself??). I get a different nurse (looking back, I should've waited until Mary, my nurse that I've been dealing with, was back from whatever it was she was doing). I tell her that I'm looking for the results on my HCG (pregnancy test). Nurse: Are we looking for it to go up or down? Paige: (thinking) What???? What kind of question is that? Um....up? I said, actually I am just looking for a positive number. Nurse: Oh. Why did you have this done? Paige: Because I went through IVF the first time and I needed reassurance this time that I am in fact pregnant. Nurse: oooohhhhkkkkaaayyy. She proceeds to tell me that it is not entered in the computer yet, so she'll call. Great; wonderful. She comes back on the line soon after and says it is 110. I say - okay, so that means that it's good???? She says 'well it's a pregnancy number'. I was thinking, yay! But at the same time, seriously nurse, you can't sound a little happy? She proceeds to ask again why I had it done. Man, you'd swear that I just took a test that was only done in the 1950s and she didn't know how to respond. Apparently they only do this test nowadays if the patient has a record of miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies. So, while I understand her confusion, I also think she needs to learn to roll with the punches. She proceeds to ask a few more questions, while I am trying to bask in the excitement of being pregnant. Now in the meantime, in the back of my head knowing that I've received faint lines since Sunday and it is now Wednesday (that I took the blood test), I do realize that the number is a little low. So it kind of weighs on me, but then I get over it. I thought, if anything they'll just adjust my due date. Since my period was not yet regular (from breastfeeding), maybe I wasn't as far along as thought.

Okay, all is good, right?? Not yet. So my nurse - Mary - calls me the following Tuesday. I see her number on caller ID and think....why is she calling me? She says that they want me to do the test again. Why? Because anytime they do this test they always have a 2nd test to compare. Why wasn't this told to me before? I think somebody finally looked at the test and saw that the number was low. She told me I should not be concerned, but it was just low - I may have just taken the test really early. Okay, I get out of the dressing room at Kohl's (where I was happily trying on outfits) and rush over to the lab. Not be concerned??? Are you kidding me? I had finally found a comfort level that this was actually happening and now you are telling me that my number was low and you want to retest me? Ugh and a half!!! Keep in mind...I again, need to wait overnight. So guess what I did? I looked on the evil Internet at HCG numbers, timeliness and miscarriages. They had me so concerned. Why, why, why did I look? So, now I'm all worked up and crying that this little baby that we created my not be.... I ended the night by looking at past blogs because I knew that I logged the HCG numbers from my 1st pregnancy with Logan. I saw that at one point my number was 96 and it was good - it was just earlier on than where they currently 'think' I am. The number should double at least every 24-48 hours (depending on the person). So I figure that by the time I'm got the 2nd test done, my number should be at least 880.


Okay, so I call again in the morning. It doesn't shock me that nobody in the nurses station realizes how desperately I need a phonecall when they open! I get Mary, my nurse - oh good at least she knows my story. She naturally has to call the place to get the results since they're not in. She gets back on the line. My number is 1800!!!!!!!!!!! YES, YES, YES! She said she still 'had' to run it by the doctor, but she'd only call if there was a problem, which there wouldn't be with a number like that. PHEW.

That drama brings us to today. I am 8 weeks 2 days along. She performed the internal ultrasound (since the baby is still soooo low). She searched around as my heart pounded like crazy. What felt like forever, was probably 5 seconds when she found the little embryo. Before we went to the appointment I looked at Logan's 8 week ultrasound so I knew what to look for. When I saw this ultrasound, I thought...hm...boy that baby looks tiny. She found the heartbeat almost right away - yay!!!!!! Phew. Then she measured the baby and he/she measured 9.44mm...which puts the baby at 7 weeks, not 8. So yes, in the end my due date was moved to February 4, 2010. Now, I personally think she moved the due date back a little much (if I do my own calculations of when we took the home tests and all)....I feel I am more 7.5 weeks. But whatever...in the end it doesn't really matter. The baby will come when he/she comes. :)

I will try to scan the ultrasoud picture and post it, but in all honesty the picture is a tiny blob. Even Logan's 6 week ultrasound is more descriptive. I really feel that this doctor could've tried to get a better picture, but hey - she found the heartbeat, so I will not complain!

The heartbeat is a strong 150 beats per minute. Go baby, go! My next appointment is in 4 weeks...yay!