Home Dopplers....Don't Do It!! And More Spotting Scares....

I recently returned from an unexpected trip oversees that turned out to be quite stressful. In order to allay my fears that Murtle was still doing ok, I purchased one of the inexpensive home dopplers. I couldn't wait to use it last Tuesday evening and even summoned DH to join in on the fun (despite my initial reservations to even tell him about my purchase because I was afraid that I would confirm his fears that I had gone off the deep end). I was pleasantly surprised to see that while he did give me a bit of a good-natured hard time about it, he did seem eager to hear the little heartbeat again, too. So, headphones on and probe all lubed up, we listened to my heartbeat to make sure the doppler was working and then tried to find little Murtle's galloping heartbeat. To my surprise, after several minutes of searching, we could only find what we thought was a heartbeat...but that was beating at about the same pace as mine. Uh-oh. So, I quietly put it away and tried to act as though I wasn't concerned...that it was just the result of user error, but I immediately headed downstairs to research the doppler I had purchased to see if anyone else had a similar experience, yet things turned out to be ok. Luckily, I did find some stories that re-assured me a bit, but until I could confirm that all was ok, I continued to worry. I ended up going to my OB's office the next morning and told them the whole embarassing story (and promised that I would throw the dumb thing away if all turned out ok) and asked if the nurse practioner ("NP") could use her doppler to find Murtle's heartbeat. Luckily, it appeared to be a slow day in the office and the NP agreed to see me. She was someone I hadn't seen before and I think I will see only her for all of my future GYN appointments because she was wonderfully supportive and sweet. We both heard Murtle's heartbeat going at 135 (I think) bpm and she said it was "perfect." While I was relieved that everything was much better than I had thought it was the previous evening, I couldn't help but worry and wonder why it had dropped from 160 just three weeks ago. I understand that heartbeat rates typically drop throughout a pregnancy until they stabilize, but that seemed to be a pretty significant drop. Whenever my fears start to creep up, I try to put them out of my mind and focus on her smiling face and her saying, "it's perfect."

Since then, I've noticed that while my nausea continues to serve as a good reminder that all is well, it has started to subside. Instead of actual nausea and total food aversion (that seemed to heighten every evening), I just have some fleeting moments of feeling "icky." I am 16 weeks and 3 days today and still am not showing, nor feeling any flutters. My research has led me to believe that this can be normal. So, I continued to have faith that all is still going well...until I noticed a bit of spotting yesterday. I came to terms with those few days of spotting in my first trimester because that seemed to happen to a lot of women who went on to have normal pregnancies and healthy babies. However, I didn't expect, nor was I prepared for a spotting re-appearance during my second trimester. Similar to the spotting I had in the first trimester, this was light and not accompanied by any painful cramps. I have been feeling some heaviness, pulling, and/or what could be stretching in my uterus, but I attributed this to my finally growing uterus and not to anything I could consider to be actual cramps. Anyway, to be on the safe side, I called my OB's office yesterday afternoon. The on-call OB, Dr. Edwards, told me basically the same advice I was given for the first trimester spotting: The spotting should not be a cause for concern unless it was heavy and/or accompanied by painful cramping. She told me just to take it easy and keep an eye on things. So, that's what I did and today it seems that all is ok. I am looking forward to my next regularly scheduled OB appointment on Wednesday to hear Murtle's heartbeat again. Taking things a day at a time during a pregnancy after infertility is much easier said than done. I know I said that I would be able to relax after I hit the 12 week mark and got the results of my NT screening. Now I'm wondering if I will be able to relax at all during this pregnancy. As of now, my goal to really start enjoying this pregnancy will be after I hit the 28 week mark. We can do this!!

Happy New Year, everyone! I'm really looking forward to 2010 - it should be one of the best years ever!

An Early Christmas Present!

I just received the results from my first trimester screening:

My age related risk prior to screening for Down's was 1 in 164. After the screening, my risk is actually 1 in 3261!!!!

My age related risk prior to screening for Trisomy 13 and 18 was 1 in 295. After the screening, my risk is actually 1 in 4561!!!!

What a relief. I am so thankful that things are progressing so well (other than the constant nausea and lack of any sort of appetite). My husband and I have truly been so incredibly blessed thus far and I couldn't be more appreciative of all of the blessings that have been bestowed upon us.

First Trimester Screening - 12w3d

Wow. I may actually be able to start to "relax" about this pregnancy now. My husband and I just got back from the first trimester screening at the MFM's office. The initial results are that Murtle is looking good so far! She's measuring 12w1d (just two days behind, but that's normal and considered to be right on target) and her heartbeat was beating away at 154 bpm. (I keep saying "her" now because the tech asked if we wanted to know the sex since she was able to take a preliminary guess (but told us not to hold her to this)). We got to see the precious little head and two arms and two legs, and it appeared as though her organs were inside her body. Every once in a while she would do a little stretch or move around a bit, but for the most part, she was just happily a-chillin' (even despite my upped intake of orange juice this morning to give her a boost). The NT measurement was 1.3, which is considered to be within normal limits. We still have to wait for the bloodwork results, but considering the measurement was ok, I have faith that bloodwork results will come back A-OK, too. The anatomy scan will be in seven weeks, but I am feeling really good about things now -- finally!!

2nd OB Appointment - 12w2d

I can't believe I'm almost through the first trimester. Until my OB appointment this morning (at Chesapeake Women's Care's Annapolis office), I definitely would not have believed it due to my miscarriage nightmares and because, aside from the nausea (which I felt was purely psychological), I still don't feel (nor look) pregnant. Also, putting my non-existent baby bump aside, I actually lost two pounds since my first OB appointment four weeks ago. I suppose that shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, though, because my usual pre-pregnancy, hearty appetite has taken a severe down-turn and I actually have to force myself to eat so that some of the nausea that consistently creeps up each and every night since about the eight week point lies low. Luckily, fruit has been my saving grace, especially watermelon, clementines, and grapes.

I guess I was really nervous about today's appointment because my blood pressure was 159 over something when they first checked it, so they had to check it again 15 minutes later because they were a bit concerned about it! After that came down, the rest of the appointment went well. The OB I met today, Dr. Jessica Russell, asked how I was doing and then reviewed all of my test results from my first OB appointment (all was A-OK). Then, to my relief, she pulled out the doppler. She told me to be patient because this could be like finding a needle in a haystack, but thank goodness she was able to find the heartbeat within a minute or so on my right side. The baby's heart was blisfully beating away at about 160 bpm. Every once in a while, there would be a brief interruption in the beating - Dr. Russell told me that was when the baby was moving! So, WHEW! There's still a baby in there! Now I can truly look forward to (rather than being filled with nervous anxiety over) tomorrow's ultrasound at the MFM's office for the first trimester screening! Now I am just hoping and praying that the initial screening results look ok and that the baby is measuring on track and seems healthy.