Had a bit of a scare with something called Fifth Disease, so named as it was the fifth discovered classical childhood skin rash. It's sometimes called Slapped Cheek Disease as people with this rash tend to have bright red cheeks as one of the symptoms. My co-worker called me on Friday to say that she had just found out that her daughter had been diagnosed with this Fifth Disease and that, while she wasn't currently contagious, at one point in time she had been. Since the child was contagious she could have given the rash to her mom (my co-worker) who in turn could have exposed the rash to me.
Of course contacting this rash as an adult (or even as a child) is not usually a big deal. The rash goes away in a few weeks and other than some mild flu-like symptoms most people recover without a problem. Being pregnant, however, is another story. Mom's who contact Fifth Disease can pass this along to their unborn child where the child can get a condition called Hydrops fetalis which can lead to severe anemia, severe low birth weight, or miscarriage (early or late-term).
Let's just say that while I really didn't think I'd caught this as I hadn't had ANY symptoms and my last close contact with my co-worker had been a week or two prior I wasn't going to temp fate. I left a message on my Doctor's on-call phone and got a call back within ten minutes where I was instructed to head down to the local lab to get some blood drawn. I asked the nurse and she said it would be probably two-four days before we got the results of the blood draw back, so I shouldn't expect to know anything until sometime next Wednesday. I guess I figured that since this was the earliest I would know, I would try not to worry and just believe that all was well.
Imagine my surprise when this morning (less than 24 hours after the blood draw) my Doctor called me back to give me the test results. It appears that I was exposed to Fifth Disease sometime in my past and have great antibodies for it, so 1) I don't currently have this and 2) I'm well guarded against getting it in the future. Baby is still safe inside me. Yeah! I must give props to my Doctor (Dr. Lorenzo from Arbor Healthcare for Women) as I never expected to hear from this clinic on a Saturday and by the Doctor himself. I am SOOOOOOO glad I switched from my previous OB/GYM clinic (I'll just keep that name to myself, but if you really want to know -just ask) to Arbor Healthcare. I feel like a real person with a real human inside of me rather than a patient number on a chart. This is just another example of how awesome this new place is!
September 25, 2010
September 24, 2010
18 Week Ultrasound
We had our 18 week ultrasound done on Tuesday. It was AMAZING seeing this little person on the screen. The previous ultrasound showed a small blog that seemed to look like a person but this latest ultrasound looked like a really tiny baby. It was neat to see the difference that a few weeks made.
In the last ultrasound you could barely get the little guy to stay still. He was bouncing and flipping and moving around so much. This time he still flipped around but it was much calmer. Almost like he knew we were looking for him and he wanted to make sure we saw him clear as day. The ultrasound technician was great. She even got us a picture of his little feet (I don't have that in picture format now, but if I get it I'll post on the blog later). We also saw this oh so tiny heart beating away steadily. I wonder how women used to do it when they had no idea of what the person inside of them looked like he they were actually here. I'm definitely glad for modern technology in that respect.
We also had our first chance to tell the Doctor's office that we didn't want to know the sex of the baby. Everyone was really supportive of that decision and many actually said they were excited to see us take that route. So, here's to another 22 weeks before we meet him or her. Oh, I can't wait for that moment!
Profile Picture at 18 Week Ultrasound
In the last ultrasound you could barely get the little guy to stay still. He was bouncing and flipping and moving around so much. This time he still flipped around but it was much calmer. Almost like he knew we were looking for him and he wanted to make sure we saw him clear as day. The ultrasound technician was great. She even got us a picture of his little feet (I don't have that in picture format now, but if I get it I'll post on the blog later). We also saw this oh so tiny heart beating away steadily. I wonder how women used to do it when they had no idea of what the person inside of them looked like he they were actually here. I'm definitely glad for modern technology in that respect.
We also had our first chance to tell the Doctor's office that we didn't want to know the sex of the baby. Everyone was really supportive of that decision and many actually said they were excited to see us take that route. So, here's to another 22 weeks before we meet him or her. Oh, I can't wait for that moment!
Profile Picture at 18 Week UltrasoundSeptember 17, 2010
Due Date and Ultrasound
I realized that I never did mention in my last post when this baby would make its arrival. Whoops! Our due date is February 24, 2011. But who knows if the baby will arrive then. My mom was late with each of us kids so I'm wondering if the baby will arrive before, on, or after Nate's and my first wedding anniversary. I'm actually hoping for a March birthday. Mostly because that would mean that my family would be celebrating birthdays in February, March, April, May, June, September, October, and November. We'd just be missing July, August, December, and January. Not too shabby having a birthday almost every month! So, here's to a March baby. :-)
Also thought you might enjoy our first ultrasound picture. When I was 11 weeks I went to the doctor's to hear the heartbeat. Well, it ended up turning out the way I wanted it to but I should have known better. See I really wanted to get an ultrasound picture of the baby to have real, physical proof that I was pregnant (nope, the nausea and weight gain were not enough). I'd been told that if the doctor couldn't find the heartbeat I'd get an ultrasound to confirm so I thought this plan was a decent one. Until it actually happened! The doctor tried searching for the heartbeat with the doppler and just couldn't find anything so he left to go get the ultrasound machine. Those 20 minutes that he was gone were some of the longest in my life. In my heart I knew the baby was still there, but mentally I was a basketcase. All I could think about was that this baby which I so wanted was gone. Nate did a great job talking to me about this and that to distract me but all I wanted was for the doctor to come back and tell me that my baby was okay. Finally the doctor came back and within seconds of turning the machine on we saw our baby. Yep, all was okay and worrying was for naught. I definitely learned my lesson though, no more wishing for a short-term bad outcome to get a long-term positive.
11 Week Ultrasound.
Also thought you might enjoy our first ultrasound picture. When I was 11 weeks I went to the doctor's to hear the heartbeat. Well, it ended up turning out the way I wanted it to but I should have known better. See I really wanted to get an ultrasound picture of the baby to have real, physical proof that I was pregnant (nope, the nausea and weight gain were not enough). I'd been told that if the doctor couldn't find the heartbeat I'd get an ultrasound to confirm so I thought this plan was a decent one. Until it actually happened! The doctor tried searching for the heartbeat with the doppler and just couldn't find anything so he left to go get the ultrasound machine. Those 20 minutes that he was gone were some of the longest in my life. In my heart I knew the baby was still there, but mentally I was a basketcase. All I could think about was that this baby which I so wanted was gone. Nate did a great job talking to me about this and that to distract me but all I wanted was for the doctor to come back and tell me that my baby was okay. Finally the doctor came back and within seconds of turning the machine on we saw our baby. Yep, all was okay and worrying was for naught. I definitely learned my lesson though, no more wishing for a short-term bad outcome to get a long-term positive.
11 Week Ultrasound. Baby's head is on the left with his legs on the right. He's on his back (we're seeing a side view) and kicking his legs towards his head. It was amazing seeing how fast he was flipping, twisting, turning, and just moving around. From one shot to the next he'd be upside down, rightside up, left, then right. No wonder I had nausea! I had a jumping bean in my tummy.
September 13, 2010
First Comes Love, Then Come Marriage, Then...
I'M PREGNANT!!!
And holy hannah but I haven't blogged anything for a while. In my defense, I'll say that the first trimester of pregnancy was not exactly a cup of tea and I basically have not had blogging energy until now. But...now that I am feeling better (and we've officially passed the first trimester of miscarriage uncertainly) expect a LOT of posts henceforth!
Without further ado....I'M PREGNANT!!! :-)
After Nate and I got married we decided that we didn't want to wait to have kids. We figured that we both knew we wanted kids in this marriage, that we didn't feel the need to be married a certain amount of time before trying to have kids, and well, we weren't exactly spring chickens either with Nate being 31 and me 29 at the time of vows (totally got the married before 30 in!). Mom kept telling me that from the time we started trying to conceive it would take us between six months to a year to finally get the Big Fat Positive (BFP) pregnancy result. So, with this in mind, we sorta-kinda started trying right after the honeymoon. By this I mean we had fun and waited till the end of the month to see if a baby was created or not.
About 3 months after getting married (later part of June) I realized that my time to start was quickly approaching but I wasn't having any of the normal symptoms. I'm a 'one and done' type of cramping girl and frankly I was feeling constant little cramps all day long. When it came to the time that I was a week late I took a pregnancy test thinking that maybe I was pregnant. Nope, test came back negative. Oh, well, I'd start soon. Well, the next morning I just had to take another pregnancy test. Again, negative. By this time I was a week and a half late and that's just not something that happens. I decided to wait a few more days until I was officially a week and a half late (giving myself three extra days to start just in case). Friday morning arrived with great anticipation. This time I decided to try a little experiment. Previously I'd been testing with these free pregnancy test strips that came in the mail and no matter how badly I needed to use the restroom I was never able to fill the cup enough to reach the test's Max Line. I figured I'd be sneaky this time. I tested with two strips! One I bent a little so that the Max Line was reached and the other I didn't bend in the cup at all so that it was kept straight (wondering if the bending was causing problems) about 1/8th below the Max Line. Waited the three minutes and this time even the Test line didn't show! Both tests were dummies! Well, I'd had enough. I got dressed and headed to Wal-Mart with a plan to buy a digital test no matter the cost. Then I had to go home and wait 2 hours to, well, have to go again.
The two hours took forever! Finally it was time to test again. I did my business then set the test on the counter telling myself not to peak. Okay, I peaked just to make sure the hour glass was turning to make sure the test worked. A few seconds later I totally peaked again and what I saw made my heart explode with joy, my eyes start bawling, and my mouth thanking God again and again.
A POSITIVE pregnancy test!!!
My first 'belly' picture.
I'M PREGNANT!!! The next part was hard because I didn't know if I should call Nate right away and tell him, if I should tell him before heading out to join friends at Cool Desert Nights for the evening, wait until after we got home, or even keep the info to myself for a while. I ended up keeping the secret all to myself until we got home later that evening from hanging out with friends. It was funny because the whole day people kept joking about when we were going to get pregnant and Nate kept sassing them right back. Little did they know that the secret smile I had on my face wasn't because I was looking forward to being pregnant but because I WAS!
That evening as we were getting ready for bed I told Nate that I had a surprise for him. I plopped a toolbelt onto the bed as the first 'gift' he was going to get that night. I told him that it was because he was going to be doing a lot of fixing up around the house in the future. With him having a confused look on his face I then pulled out the positive pregnancy test and told him I was pregnant. Oh, how I wish I'd been able to take a picture of his face. It was a face that was so surprised and filled with such joy. I guess I'll just have to cherish the memory I'll always have of this moment. After telling Nate I was pregnant he was just so adorable. Immediately started questioning how I was feeling, if him having a little cold might hurt the baby, could I feel anything move, and over and over repeating that he was going to be a dad, that I was pregnant, and hugging me. It was honestly the best, most awesomest response he could have given. The next day he started right in on the house to-dos with putting up my kitchen counter lights (see previous post!).
12 Week Belly
Now that I've officially entered the second trimester I'm feeling great, so long as I don't do anything stupid (as Nate says). I'm even back to working out with my trainer! I'm officially in maternity clothes 100% of the time but thanks to some great friends (thanks Caren and Monica!) I've only had to buy a few pants. Otherwise I think I'm covered until baby gets here. I guess at this point in time the 'weird' things that I've noticed are crazy, vivid dreams (Planet of the Bears anyone?), a belly button that no longer looks or feels the same (my innie/outie is now a larger innie only), and a general feeling of being big. Once again it's Nate to the rescue as he reminds that I'm he still finds me sexy and that I'm supposed to feel this way. I suppose it's just a little hard because I weigh more now than I ever have (even at my heaviest post college), so the feel-good reminders from him do a lot for my self-esteem. Oh, the other 'weird' thing is that I can't turn over normally anymore. I sort of have to heave-ho my body to one side then turn as fast as I can to the other to get out of bed. Hee. It's a fun ritual every morning.
16 Week Belly
And holy hannah but I haven't blogged anything for a while. In my defense, I'll say that the first trimester of pregnancy was not exactly a cup of tea and I basically have not had blogging energy until now. But...now that I am feeling better (and we've officially passed the first trimester of miscarriage uncertainly) expect a LOT of posts henceforth!
Without further ado....I'M PREGNANT!!! :-)
After Nate and I got married we decided that we didn't want to wait to have kids. We figured that we both knew we wanted kids in this marriage, that we didn't feel the need to be married a certain amount of time before trying to have kids, and well, we weren't exactly spring chickens either with Nate being 31 and me 29 at the time of vows (totally got the married before 30 in!). Mom kept telling me that from the time we started trying to conceive it would take us between six months to a year to finally get the Big Fat Positive (BFP) pregnancy result. So, with this in mind, we sorta-kinda started trying right after the honeymoon. By this I mean we had fun and waited till the end of the month to see if a baby was created or not.
About 3 months after getting married (later part of June) I realized that my time to start was quickly approaching but I wasn't having any of the normal symptoms. I'm a 'one and done' type of cramping girl and frankly I was feeling constant little cramps all day long. When it came to the time that I was a week late I took a pregnancy test thinking that maybe I was pregnant. Nope, test came back negative. Oh, well, I'd start soon. Well, the next morning I just had to take another pregnancy test. Again, negative. By this time I was a week and a half late and that's just not something that happens. I decided to wait a few more days until I was officially a week and a half late (giving myself three extra days to start just in case). Friday morning arrived with great anticipation. This time I decided to try a little experiment. Previously I'd been testing with these free pregnancy test strips that came in the mail and no matter how badly I needed to use the restroom I was never able to fill the cup enough to reach the test's Max Line. I figured I'd be sneaky this time. I tested with two strips! One I bent a little so that the Max Line was reached and the other I didn't bend in the cup at all so that it was kept straight (wondering if the bending was causing problems) about 1/8th below the Max Line. Waited the three minutes and this time even the Test line didn't show! Both tests were dummies! Well, I'd had enough. I got dressed and headed to Wal-Mart with a plan to buy a digital test no matter the cost. Then I had to go home and wait 2 hours to, well, have to go again.
The two hours took forever! Finally it was time to test again. I did my business then set the test on the counter telling myself not to peak. Okay, I peaked just to make sure the hour glass was turning to make sure the test worked. A few seconds later I totally peaked again and what I saw made my heart explode with joy, my eyes start bawling, and my mouth thanking God again and again.
A POSITIVE pregnancy test!!!
My first 'belly' picture.5 Week Belly
I'M PREGNANT!!! The next part was hard because I didn't know if I should call Nate right away and tell him, if I should tell him before heading out to join friends at Cool Desert Nights for the evening, wait until after we got home, or even keep the info to myself for a while. I ended up keeping the secret all to myself until we got home later that evening from hanging out with friends. It was funny because the whole day people kept joking about when we were going to get pregnant and Nate kept sassing them right back. Little did they know that the secret smile I had on my face wasn't because I was looking forward to being pregnant but because I WAS!
That evening as we were getting ready for bed I told Nate that I had a surprise for him. I plopped a toolbelt onto the bed as the first 'gift' he was going to get that night. I told him that it was because he was going to be doing a lot of fixing up around the house in the future. With him having a confused look on his face I then pulled out the positive pregnancy test and told him I was pregnant. Oh, how I wish I'd been able to take a picture of his face. It was a face that was so surprised and filled with such joy. I guess I'll just have to cherish the memory I'll always have of this moment. After telling Nate I was pregnant he was just so adorable. Immediately started questioning how I was feeling, if him having a little cold might hurt the baby, could I feel anything move, and over and over repeating that he was going to be a dad, that I was pregnant, and hugging me. It was honestly the best, most awesomest response he could have given. The next day he started right in on the house to-dos with putting up my kitchen counter lights (see previous post!).
From this point on the next three months were exciting, and well, lots of feelings of sick and tired. I felt pretty good for probably another 2-3 weeks after finding out we were pregnant, but by week number 8 I was down for the count. I rarely threw up but golly did I feel nauseous all the time. And by golly do I mean all the time. I would wake up wanting to throw up and go to bed the same way. Getting through a nine hour work day took up all my energy. I would come home and lay on the couch until it was time for bed. On weekends it was normal to get up after ten hours of sleep then go down again in a few hours for a two-four hour nap. I felt like I was sleeping all the time and I know I was slacking on the housework. Thank goodness for Nate. He recognized my state of being and graciously took over the cleaning, laundry, cooking, and somewhat the grocery shopping. I honestly don't know how we would have survived those weeks without him stepping up without complaint.
12 Week BellyNow that I've officially entered the second trimester I'm feeling great, so long as I don't do anything stupid (as Nate says). I'm even back to working out with my trainer! I'm officially in maternity clothes 100% of the time but thanks to some great friends (thanks Caren and Monica!) I've only had to buy a few pants. Otherwise I think I'm covered until baby gets here. I guess at this point in time the 'weird' things that I've noticed are crazy, vivid dreams (Planet of the Bears anyone?), a belly button that no longer looks or feels the same (my innie/outie is now a larger innie only), and a general feeling of being big. Once again it's Nate to the rescue as he reminds that I'm he still finds me sexy and that I'm supposed to feel this way. I suppose it's just a little hard because I weigh more now than I ever have (even at my heaviest post college), so the feel-good reminders from him do a lot for my self-esteem. Oh, the other 'weird' thing is that I can't turn over normally anymore. I sort of have to heave-ho my body to one side then turn as fast as I can to the other to get out of bed. Hee. It's a fun ritual every morning.
16 Week BellyAt this point I'm feeling a little bit more urgency for baby shopping for cribs, bedding, etc but mostly I'm still a little too worn out from work to do much on the computer when I get home at night. I'm hoping that the weekends will be a little freer for baby time! Some of the next big purchases need to be a crib, a few bedding pieces to get color ideas, then paint that matches the bedding pieces to repaint the nursery. Internet searches will be on cloth diapers (Nate really wants to give this a try, so I'm willing), pediatricians, and car seats. I still have months left so I'm not too worried. Besides, I always work best under pressure. :-)
So that's my pregnancy story so far. I'm actually really glad I finally got this blog up because now I feel like I can actually talk about stuff without having to keep quiet about the baby. Plus, with feeling better I can post more than "Didn't puke today - yeah" stories.
I did want to finish by saying to all mom's out there, your advice is welcome and appreciated. I'm a newbie at this so if you're more than 17 weeks along, have an infant, or have multiple kids you're more experienced than I and I look to you for advice. Bring it!
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