Door County Babymoon

We spent our anniversary weekend in Door County Wisconsin. This is our preferred camping location, but thankfully we decided not to camp this time around! We were worried about the weather being too cold, and I didn't really want to sleep on an air mattress on the ground. It turned about to be a chilly weekend so the hotel was perfect! We have enjoyed the first year of our marriage and are ready for the excitement our future holds!

Anniversary dinner at Alexanders 

View from Peninsula State Park

About to embark on our scenic air ride!

View looking south on Door County

View looking northwest from Door County (Michigan UP is in the background)

Shipwrecks!

Cana Island and southwestern Door County

Why do you have such a big belly?

One would think I would be used to the comments kids make, after years of working in a school. The comments have slowly changed from, "You have a big belly!" to "Are you having a baby?" I like the second comment much better - it confirms that I have gone from just looking fat to clearly looking pregnant!

Four weeks - 5/19/12

Eight weeks        Twelve weeks         Sixteen weeks        Twenty weeks

Twenty four weeks 10/11/12

It's a Boy!!

We received the results of the blood test on Monday, and that was "negative". This was quite a sense of relief for both of us! That meant there was no leakage of spinal fluid from the baby, so our odds of having a spinal deformity were low.

The ultrasound was scheduled as early as we possibly could - 18 weeks and 1 day. Both the sonographer and the physician saw no signs of spinal deformity. Apparently the brain is one of the first things they look at, and this baby has a perfectly formed brain! The physician went down the spine vertebrae by vertebrae and said with 99% confidence that the baby had a closed spinal column.

The ultrasound revealed a baby boy that is growing rapidly - his measurements place us ahead by 4 days! He is also breech at this point in time, but has plenty of time to move into position as he has plenty of room to move around. I have an anterior placenta, meaning it is in between the baby and my belly, so no baby movements yet. He is only 9 ounces and needs to be stronger to kick through all of that before I can feel him!

Baby Belly

I am officially filling out my maternity pants. I have been wearing these shorts almost exclusively all summer just because they are so much more comfortable than a button digging into my gut. My regular shirts are also starting to get tight/short/small so it might be time to make a permanent move into mommy clothes.

We have completed the first round of blood tests, carrier screenings, as well as the 12 week screening and ultrasound for Down syndrome ... all have returned to be considered in the normal ranges. Next week is the final portions of the Quad screen. Obviously the most important for us is the alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels. 

A baby produces AFP throughout gestation and a certain amount of it should cross the placenta into the mother's bloodstream at each stage of pregnancy. Normally, low levels of AFP can be found in the blood of a pregnant woman. High AFP levels can indicate multiple conditions, including carrying more than one baby or that the baby is farther along than expected. However, it can also indicate an abnormal opening in the baby's spine (spina bifida), head or abdominal wall that is allowing AFP to leak out. This screening detects about 85% of babies with spina bifida. 

We also have a Level II ultrasound scheduled for 18 weeks with the same high risk doctors we worked with in February. This anatomy scan is scheduled about two weeks earlier than most in order to determine any birth defects as early as possible. Below are images from the twelve week ultrasound. (The baby's heartbeat at 12 weeks was in the 160's...old wive's tales indicate that is a girl!)

These two images show the baby face down, including the back of the head, neck and shoulders. 

The top picture I think shows the baby face up(?)  and belly, with the arm by the head. Not exactly sure what the second image is, but the hemispheres of the brain are visible. 

Baby Red's First Photos

This ultrasound gave us an exact measurement of the baby - Baby Red is officially 6 weeks and 4 days old in these photographs, with a due date of January 25, 2012. The baby is so tiny - less than a centimeter - so there isn't much to see. We could see the heart beating (somewhere just above and to the left of the "B") but not much else! I can definitely feel my uterus at this point in time, just barely popping out above my pubic bone. But I'm so bloated and constipated that I'm sure I look much further than 7 weeks at the end of the day! Next doctor visit is six weeks away - that would put the baby at twelve weeks along. We will have another ultrasound (part of the Downs Syndrome screening) and hopefully there will be more resemblance to a baby at that time!

Follow up visit

So there was some question about my due date and how far along I am. By taking the date of my last period, that puts me about a week further along than I thought I was. Last Tuesday at the doctor my hcg was at 469. That would put me at about 5 weeks, not 6 weeks. This Tuesday the reading was 4623, which is five and a half to six weeks along. I think my due date is January 23, 2012, although the doctor originally said the 17th. I still have an appointment next week for an ultrasound next week. She did not push that back a week, even though I will only be 7 weeks instead of 8. Hopefully it doesn't turn out to be a waste of our time!

Is that a line?!?

We took two pregnancy tests last week. The first was a very faint line, but I kept reminding myself that one cannot be "a little bit" pregnant - either it's there or it's not!

May 14, 2012

The second test had a much more definitive line, but neither one of us was quite ready to believe it. Of course we were thinking, let's wait til the doctor confirms it. I don't think the doctor confirmation was really necessary as I had already been feeling some "morning" sickness, even the week before. Thanks to Christine for the jolly ranchers - the green apple flavor seems to be very helpful!

May 17, 2012

Why is it that we wait for the doctor to confirm, and even then it still seems so unbelievable. I do feel we are blessed to have this happen so quickly, when others wait years and still need the help of modern medicine. The doctor visit went well, but I need blood drawn and my levels checked again next week. It's weird how they calculate the due date based upon the last menstrual period, and assume all cycles are 28 days. Since mine have been 33 days, I knew I was more like 5 weeks than the 6 weeks the doctor calculated.

Then comes the question of telling people - it feels strange to be holding this secret, but the pressure is on to wait until after the first trimester. Apparently my husband can't keep a secret because he has told more people than I have! So many of his friends knew that we were trying and they asked - or saw that I continue to drink water when we are out at night. So that must have been rather obvious! My closer coworkers knew when I left early to go to the doctor. I am a little nervous about the end of the year party when the drinks are flowing. Plus I am rather emotional and am afraid I will be a sobbing mess as I am being forced to find employment elsewhere!

Here is a funny....had an end of the year transition meeting with a parent. I sat in the meeting and had a panic attack as I realized this mother is a maternity nurse ... a family that I needed to report to DCFS. I couldn't stop thinking about what she might do if she happened to be assigned to me during labor! Thankfully she currently works at Condell. Keep your fingers crossed she doesn't find a new job!

I am continuing to work out and am quite self conscious of the bloated belly I now have. Exercising is already different. Apparently my blood volume is increasing, along with my resting heart rate. Instead of the blood rushing to my muscles while exercising, it is going straight to my uterus. What used to be an easy bike ride has become quite the workout. I can tell that gaining weight is going to be difficult to manage. 

Four weeks, one day

It still seems to be quite unreal - either I am in denial, scared to what changes are to come, or just in awe of the miracle that is developing within in my body. Here's to a healthy and happy 35 weeks to go!