Chatter Free Friday

No Talk Thursday

In The Clear?

So, here's the update on "Little Sprout" and I...

So far, so good. The bleeding/spotting tapered off after Monday. I still had some yesterday and have a small amount today...so small I don't even know if it technically counts. On Monday it was reddish-brown and the largest amount out of all the days. Yesterday was less and still reddish-brown (more brown than red, which is usually a good thing). I did have some dull cramping and sharp pains yesterday but those have subsided as well.

I wouldn't go as far as to say that we are in the clear yet, but things are looking good and I actually have a lot of hope. There's sometimes no rhyme or reason for bleeding during pregnancy, and it can be completely normal, but as we also know there could be a problem, so it's definitely something to always keep your eye on. I was feeling kind of down and had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I was losing Little Sprout, but I think this thing is going to turn out to be a huge scare. I won't have the true confirmation until Friday's ultrasound, but for now I've got my head up and I feel safe enough to say that I think things are just fine.

I had my 3rd beta drawn yesterday and had the results by that afternoon. I'd done the math in my head and for my numbers to have doubled at the minimum of 72 hours, I should have been looking at a number in the 1,152 range---give or take. I'm pleased to announce that my levels yesterday were... 5,273!! Wahoo!! That means that they are doubling roughly every 38 hours. This doesn't mean a whole lot in regards to the bleeding as they'd have to confirm with another test in a couple days (which I won't have them do unless there's an indication of something wrong on Friday) to make sure the numbers are still doubling, but at least they are going up. And right now, that's enough for me and Little Sprout.

Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. I hope to have a good update (and maybe some pictures!) come Friday!

Wordless Wednesday

Tacid Tuesday

Mute Monday

Thoughts for Little Sprout

This is probably nothing to be alarmed about, but if you pray (or even if you don't) could you keep Little Sprout in your prayers & thoughts?

I've had some cramping over the weekend, which really doesn't alarm me as I had it with my prior pregnancies, but I then had a small amount of bloody mucus this morning. It wasn't a bright red, but a darker red so I'm assuming it's not all bad. Again, I think a small amount is normal and my midwife told me not to worry and to lay low for now. As long as it doesn't get worse things should more than likely be fine.

We ruled out almost any main causes for it. She said I could be partially dehydrated or it could be a subchorionic hemorrhage from the placenta getting ready to attach or something like that. It could be a wee bit early for the latter scenario, but not much can be ruled out. I'm trying to remain calm as stressing about it definitely won't help, so that's kind of where I'm at right now. They did move up my ultrasound to Friday morning so at least I won't have to wait through the weekend without any answers. I'm analytical and really Type-A when it comes to things like this, so I think they moved it for my own peace of mind...otherwise I'd probably drive myself crazy obsessing over the "what-ifs" and the unknown. I'm the kind of person who demands clear-cut answers so hopefully this will give me some. The only doubt about this is because they don't know for sure when Little Sprout's due date is, it could be on the early side for an ultrasound to find anything conclusive. Usually you can see a defined fetal pole and yolk sac around 6 weeks, but sooner than that could really go either way. Assuming I'm due on February 4th, that would put me at 6 weeks exactly on Friday. I'm guessing I'm due between February 3rd-6th, so I would either be barely 6 weeks or just over. My fingers are crossed that they will see something. Ideally, if we could see a viable fetal pole inside the yolk sac with a heartbeat on Friday, I'd be thrilled and I think that my fears would be put to rest...for now (unless something else happens to freak me out).

So, please just think good thoughts for us this week and hopefully we will know something definite on Friday either way. Again, I have faith that everything is fine, but even the smallest things this early on can make me worry because it's still so soon and fragile. It only takes the slightest thing. Hopefully you won't hear any more news from me until Friday and, hopefully, it will be good news at that point! Fingers are crossed!

Also if you have any advice or personal experience around this, let me know. I'd be curious to hear what you have to say. Thanks!

P.S. Off topic- but I will be posting my "week in pictures" this week with today's post coming shortly. I just have to upload the pictures!

First Ultrasound

Yay!! I was finally able to get through to the people at Maternal Fetal Medicine to have my ultrasound scheduled! Ok, well it seemed like forever because I was super anxious and impatient, but whatever... So, I go in for my first look at our Little Sprout/Sweet Pea on:

June 14th at 10:30am!!

Going off of the conception date, I should be around 6 weeks and 3 days, but I'm not for sure about that. They will be checking to make sure that the pregnancy is viable (that there is growth and a heartbeat) and calculate my due date. I'm so excited!!

Also, it will be interesting to see if the gender predictor thing concerning the placenta position is correct. The "theory" is that there is some kind of relationship between the placental position and the gender of the child. This is how it breaks down:

97.2% of male fetuses had a chorionic villi/placental location on the right side of the uterus
97.5% of female fetuses had a chorionic villi/placental location on the left side of the uterus

**Note with this: trans-abdominal ultrasounds are a mirror image so if it appears on the left in your ultrasound picture, it's actually on the right IRL. This doesn't apply to trans-vaginal ultrasounds.**

So, I pulled out my old pictures from the boys, and it was correct with them. Looks like with almost everyone who was polled on my BabyCenter forum for this also showed that this was correct for their past pregnancies. I'm not going to rely on it to determine gender for me for sure, but I thought it was an interesting theory nonetheless. It's a good way to pass the time. :)

Only 11 days and counting down until we get to see our 3rd baby! I'm so excited! I hope to announce the pregnancy by the end of the month once I've met with my midwife!

#3 is DEFINITELY on the way!

I called my doctor's office this morning to get my results from the 2nd quantitative hCG beta test from yesterday. My first number on Thursday's beta was 8mIU/ml, which was inconclusive at the time. Based on the "rule" that your hCG levels are supposed to double roughly every 48-72 hours, I would have only needed a number of 64mIU/ml to meet that minimum requirement.

Well, my result as of yesterday was.... 288mIU/ml!! WAY more than doubled! My doctor said, "Congratulations, you are DEFINITELY pregnant!". Very cool to hear those words.

I have my first appointment with my midwife on June 28th and was sad to find out they don't do ultrasounds in-house. With my OB they always did the first ultrasound around 8 weeks to find out when you are due and to make sure there's a heartbeat. There's no way I could not have an early ultrasound...especially since I don't know for sure when I'm due. I told the receptionist that I need the peace of mind to know for sure when I'm due and that everything is okay, so they are referring me out for an ultrasound! I will also get the integrated screening and BIG 20 week ultrasounds too, but they will have to send me out for those as well. I have to call Maternal Fetal Medicine tomorrow morning to schedule my ultrasound but I assume they will do it sometime the week of June 14th. I'm so excited!!! I get to see Little Sprout earlier than I thought!

I'm sure I will update tomorrow with the official ultrasound date because I'm giddy like that, hehe!

Big Fat Positive

I thought about titling this post "Unexpectedly Expecting" but I figured that Big Fat Positive would be a little more obvious. In either case, if you are a woman you more than likely know EXACTLY what it boils down to.

Yup, I'm pregnant. (Holy crap, I'm going to have THREE kids...and 3 years old or under). Oh dear.

Just in case a confirmation was needed, here you go.

Oh, and yes. I did actually take 3 tests to make sure. 4 if you count the other digital, but that one came back negative at the time. Sadly, I'm still in shock and denial. I'm holding back at every attempt to go out and buy more just to make sure there are two lines.

So it goes something like this:

Wednesday- Take a ClearBlue Digital test with SMU. Result? Negative.

Thursday- Routine bloodwork for thyroid & Vitamin D. Quantitative hCG test thrown in for good measure.

Friday- Results back from doctor. Ruled "indeterminable". Asked to retest with a HPT over the weekend and follow up on Tuesday with more bloodwork.

Saturday- Couldn't hold out until Sunday to test because I'm impatient and like concrete answers so I POAS with a Dollar Store test. Result? Big Fat Positive. I even had to post my picture on my online forum and poll 50 women to make sure that I wasn't imagining the 2nd line.

Sunday- POAS again with a digital and another Dollar Store test just to make sure I'm not crazy. Result? Still Big Fat Positive.

Today- Follow up bloodwork to make sure my levels are doubling. Results back tomorrow.

How did this happen? Truth be told... I have no clue. Ok, well I know the birds and bees version. I'm married. Married people do...stuff. And now I'm going to be the one stuffed like a turkey around Thanksgiving. I still believe fully in NFP, and I'm not going to completely put it at fault, but there were a lot of discrepancies with my cycle and even my doctors are baffled. Either I ovulated TWICE in one cycle (it's been known to happen--- pretty sure it's rare though) or I ovulated super, super late. That would explain why the first test came back negative and the bloodwork was inconclusive--- it was just too early to know even though my period was "late". I followed everything just as I was supposed to. We only had sex once and it was almost a week after I "supposedly" ovulated. There's no way in Hades I should have been pregnant if I ovulated when it said I did. I had the elevated temperatures and a marginally positive OPK to confirm it too. And even if I hadn't received a positive OPK on day 12, it would have shifted ovulation to day 23 which would still make pregnancy virtually impossible. So, I think we are all scratching our heads at this point.

How do I feel about all of this? Well, mostly excited. But my mind has run the gamut of emotions since Saturday and I think I've felt about everything apart from anger because I could never be angry about another child. A child is a blessing from God and I refuse to see it as anything but that. I'm grateful that I've been chosen to be a mother...to three kids. Wow! Three. I'm still in shock. However, on the flip side this is a HUGE change for us. We will need a new place because 2 bedrooms isn't enough, we will need a bigger car, and who knows what will happen with daycare and my job. The "plan" was for me to be a SAHM when #3 arrived because daycare is just too expensive, but I carry the health insurance for the family at a fraction of the cost elsewhere so it actually saves us money. The problem with this is that Aaron is still unemployed (granted he does have an interview next week...wish him luck!!) and we don't know what the stability will be like. At this point I have no idea what will happen. At least we have 9 more months to figure it out.

So, essentially we have a lot to think about. Could we have been more careful? Absolutely, but we never thought this would happen. We weren't planning on another child for at least 6 months. With all of this said, because of my Christian faith, I FIRMLY believe that everything happens for a reason, and even if I don't understand it, this was part of God's plan and this child is meant to be here. There is a reason that this child is coming into our family. I'm so blessed that I've been seen fit to become a mother and I pray everyday that I raise my children to be loving children of God and a good influence on the world. Society is going downhill fast and I hope that I can raise them with good morals and kindness.

How am I doing? Great, so far. You know, it's funny... I never really recognized any "symptoms" until after I found out I was pregnant. Sure, I noticed I was eating a little more than usual and that I was tired, but nothing I couldn't chalk up to something else. Now, everything is coming out of the woodwork. I'm tired, hungry and thirsty ALL the time. I mean, the thirst is insane. I'm drinking water like it's going out of style... which then leads to the frequent urination. I'm craving vegetables! WTH? Seriously, I'll eat a whole thing of sauteed asparagus every day if I could. YUM! My back hurts and I can feel the uterine ligaments stretching. And, OMG... I am so gassy! And I'm breaking out! I never had this with either of my boys. The symptoms this time seem so different. Still relatively subtle, but there and different than what I had with the boys. Maybe this means it will be a girl?? Oh, that would be AWESOME!

When am I due? Again, not really sure of an exact date. Because I don't know for sure when I ovulated, it's hard to tell. I'm saying that it's early February 2011 (I'll most likely deliver in late January). Based on my LMP, I'm due February 1st, but based on the conception date, it's February 4th. So, sometime the first week of February. I'll know for sure come June 28th when I have my first prenatal checkup with my midwife complete with the first ultrasound of our "Little Sprout". We will be using the date on the ultrasound as the due date.

So, there you go. That's my big news. I'll update tomorrow with my blood results from the 2nd beta. Oh, and I'll have to ask you one favor: If you read this and you are a friend of mine on Facebook or MySpace, please DO NOT mention anything on my wall or comments. If you want to post anything to me, post it here as my family and friends don't have this blog address. I have not told friends or family on my side and it will be a sensitive subject to some of my family so I don't want to announce it until either after the first ultrasound or until I'm into my 2nd trimester. I'm definitely excited to share it with the world, but not quite yet. And obviously it would be best for them to hear it directly from me.

Thank you!