10 Weeks

10 Weeks

This was a scary week. A verrrrry scary week.

I had my monthly OB appointment where they were going to check for the heartbeat with the doppler. I told Mark not to come to this appointment because it was going to be pretty quick an uneventful. Well, my OB apparently read the ultrasound reports that noted that I had a very tilted uterus [tilted towards my back]. So she wheeled in this 1980's looking machine that resembled a large R2D2 with a screen. She told me to lay back and lift up my shirt. She puts the wand on my belly and it brings up a blurry image. I don't hear a heartbeat. I panic. We lost our last baby at 9w4d. This can't be happening again. I turn to the doc and see her squinting. 

Her: "I'm pretty sure I see a flicker."

Me: "Just pretty sure?"

Her: "98% sure."

Me: "What about the other 2%?"

Her: "Let's send you across the street to get a better view at baby.

She hands me lab paperwork and on the lab order paper it reads: "unable to verify fetal heart rate. Please confirm viability."

What. The. F.

She asks me about the Nuchal Translucency scan done at 12 weeks and if I'm interested. Sure, why not? She tells me about the screening and it apparently tests for genetic abnormalities with the baby. She tells me my risk for having a child with Downs Syndrome is 1:1500, so what they will do is take a measurement of the back of the baby's neck, match it with my maternal age, and take a sample of blood. It will in turn, give me the odds that our baby has a genetic disorder. If the odds came back greater than what is the "norm", then they will do further testing.

So I go across the street with my "confirm viability" paper, and chug some water. They call me back.

That room. I hate that room even though last time had a good outcome. The tech asks me what's going on, so I tell her...my doctor is only 98% sure my baby has a heartbeat.

She puts the probe on my belly. 

"There's nothing wrong with your baby! Look!"

 178 beautiful beats per minute..

Measuring right on schedule...

And waving at me!

Life is good.

8 weeks: Raspberry

No belly picture. Woof. I haven't properly done my hair or makeup since week 5. It's just too much effort when you know the inevitable is that you're just going to mess it all up praying to the porcelain God in a few hours.

This week was pretty boring, can't do a lot of smells still, extremely tired and the long 9-11 hour days at work are really taking a toll on my body and immune system.

Let's talk about cheese. Cream cheese on everything. Celery, tortillas, bagels, crackers, everything. Cottage cheese mmm. I can't get enough cheese! Since I'm not really doing red meat, I have to get protein and iron else where. I've been eating a lot of those McDonald's Southwest Chicken Salads because they are mild enough for my stomach. Poor Mark has been on his own for dinner for two weeks now. He has been a real trooper and I am so lucky to have him.

Grow baby, Grow! We love you! Oh, and only 4 more weeks of Progesterone supplements!

6 Weeks!

I know,  I'm waaaay behind. I'm sorry! It was a busy January at our house. Wedding planning is almost done and we are down to the final checklist items before the actual day.

Week 5 was miserable, ya'll. Mark and I took a trip to Fort Collins with plans to go to the Broncos/Chiefs game on December 30th. Well, right before Christmas, I got SO sick with a cold. I couldn't breathe, sleep, couldn't do anything. I figured I would toughen up and be able to go to the game on the 30th. On the morning of the 30th, I began getting violently ill.  At first I was like "Great! Morning sickness, I'll take it!" Then...I was heading to the bathroom every 10 minutes. I started panicking. "How am I going to work with being so sick?" "OMG I'm like Princess Kate and I'm going to have to go to the hospital for fluids." It turned out to be a 24 hour bug and I am thankful for that! Although we missed the game and missed NYE festivities, it was nice to stay in with Mark's family.

Week 6 was a big week for us. We had our first OB appointment and first ultrasound! I can't even begin to express the anxiety I had going into this ultrasound. What if I wasn't pregnant and those pregnancy tests were all lies? What if baby didn't have a heartbeat? What if something is wrong? Many people don't know that we experienced a loss in May of 2012. We went in for our first ultrasound and there it was...our baby. However...baby did not have a heartbeat. I can't begin to describe the pain, the heartbreak, the anger and the confusion that we both had. We were so naive. We had no clue about miscarriages, or that babies could just stop growing. I was angry. Why us? The day and night before our ultrasound [1/8] I was a nervous wreck. I was nauseous, couldn't concentrate, couldn't sleep and began to analyze every one of my symptoms.

January 9th came and we had to wait until our appointment at 12:30. I tried to keep myself busy at work and chug my water that I needed to drink before the ultrasound. The time came to leave work and I left to meet Mark at the ultrasound place. All I could think about was going to the bathroom. Holy crap, is drinking 72 ounces really necessary? No. I checked in and I couldn't take it, so I cheated and let out most of my bladder. Then, they called us back and I started crying. The tech asked what was wrong and Mark explained that when we were last in this exact room, we got terrible news. She assured us that today would be different. When she tried the abdominal ultrasound, she couldn't see anything. I was told last time that I apparently have a very tilted uterus. She did remark that I had a huge bladder...so I thanked her. She let me empty my bladder the rest of the way  and did an internal ultrasound. I asked her not to show us the picture on the big screen TV in case it was bad news again. She goes "Why? Here's your baby with a heartbeat!" She turned on the screen and there it was, a little gummy bear wiggling away. She took the measurements and said that baby was measuring at 6w4d with a heartbeat of 124bpm. I was in disbelief. For real?! Well...here's little baby Maska..

 

Baby is the little Rice Krispie looking thing on the left, his/her yolk sac is on the right of it.

Of course, after reading on the internet about the Ramzi method, I had to ask. Is baby/placenta on the left or the right of the uterus? The tech said "left". Here is what the Ramzi method suggests:

"In using this data, Dr. Ramzi Ismail concluded that at six weeks gestation, 97.2% of the male fetuses had a placenta or chorionic villi on the right side of the uterus. When it came to female fetuses, there were 97.5% of the chorionic villi or placenta on the left side of the uterus. "

So...could we be having a GIRL? Time will tell!

Here's a little survey. I promise all my posts won't be this long!

How far along? 6 weeks 3 days [when picture was taken]
Total weight gain/loss: Not weighing myself! I'll let the doctors do that.
Maternity clothes? Nope, but I am using a hair tie for jeans due to bloat.
Stretch marks? Nope.
Sleep: After being sleep deprived during week 5, I am sleeping like a baby and I am totally exhausted during week 6! Not to mention nauseous. Sleeping helps with the nausea :).
Best moment(s) this week: Seeing a lively, healthy baby!
Have you told family and friends: Just immediate family and I told my MOH.
Miss Anything? I missed being able to take Nyquil.
Movement:  Way too early for that.
Food cravings: Not yet.
Anything making you queasy or sick:  Red meat. Woof. Steaks, burgers, anything like that...I can't do. The smell of it makes me gag.
Have you started to show yet: Just bloated.
Gender prediction: I'm thinking girl. The Chinese Gender Chart says girl, I feel girl. I'm broken out and nauseous too...
Labor Signs: No.
Belly Button in or out? Definitely in.
Wedding rings on or off? On. They're too pretty to be off.
 Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy but verrrry stressed at work.
Weekly Wisdom: You can only do so much in one day.
Looking forward to: Eventually telling extended family and friends, pending Itty Bitty stays healthy.

 

 

Oh. My. Gosh.

We're having a baby.

For real.

 

Our wedding is three months away, and we just got some exciting news. On 12/19/12 I took a pregnancy test and got a teeny faint line. The next day, I got this one. We are so super excited and blessed that we are going to have a little bundle of joy. Baby Maska is no longer just a Pinterest board. Based on the doctor's calculations, Baby Maska is due 8/31/2013. Eeeeeeek!

We aren't announcing for awhile. During the first trimester, miscarriage is so common and we don't want to put the news out there just to have to tell everyone that something had happened. So, in the meantime, if we could ask you to cross your fingers for a healthy little baby for us, that would mean SO much. 

New Beginnings.

Well, I decided to create a blog. Obviously.

There is SO much going on in our lives right now and I figured this would be a great way to share with family and friends.

Where to begin?

As most of you know, Mark and I are getting married on March 23rd, 2013. We cannot wait! Our families have been planning this event with us for months and we are eager to see how it all turns out. Everything is planned. The food. The venue. The honeymoon. The dress. The FUN. Now my mom and I just need to finish small details.

What else?

We BOUGHT A HOUSE! Kind of. We bought a floor plan and a piece of land. We recently got to pick out our cabinets, carpet, exteriors, lighting, counters, etc. We didn't even argue over anything for the home, which I think is a great start. So, by May or June, we should have this pretty home to move into. Here are some pictures from the homebuilder's website.

It will look like the picture above, but with a three car garage, shutters on the bottom window, and stone on the front going up from the doorway. We are so excited to be first time home owners!

That's it for now. Hopefully we have some more exciting things to post in 2013. This year is going to be such a great year!