Yup, we're pregnant!

We had a great ultrasound today! Our baby looks beautiful, and was really active! It was jumping around, waving it's little arms and legs; overall looking quite darling. His/her heartbeat was 179 beats per minute and measured about 50mm (about 2 inches) which is right on track! It was amazing, really amazing. I felt so happy and calm and reassured that everything was ok. It's strange though--even as I'm writing this, part of my brain is worried, afraid that something isn't right--despite this calmness & reassuredness (is that a word?) that I felt just a few hours ago! Oh the agony of the mind...
We'll get our official test results back early next week...

I just have to keep looking at these pictures and remembering how active our little babe was today. Todd and I were so excited to see him/her--and it's really looking like a little baby now. I'm going to put up our pictures this evening--they really don't do justice to how beautiful our babe is though.

And, by the way, we've decided to officially announce this pregnancy. It kind of makes me nervous, but mostly excited. Thanks again for your support and kind words of encouragement. You'll never know how much I've appreciated it.


Love,
Julie

Quick hello

Hi there friends,

Sorry I've been so bad about blogging lately! It's nice to not have any news to report--since everything has been going so well.

Todd and I are on vacation right now, but I wanted to put up a quick post saying hello.

I continue to feel pretty good--just on the tired side. My pants this week have been a little snug--Todd's had a good laugh with all the unbuttoning of them that I've done!

We'll get back home next week and have our first screening ultrasound & bloodwork on Thursday. I'm anxious to see our little bean! It will have been about 3 weeks since the last ultrasound, and I'm excited to see how much it's grown! Of course, there's a part of me that's nervous...but I have to believe that everything will be ok.

Thanks for checking in, and I'll try to do a better job with updates!

Love,
Julie

Ultrasound pic

Here are a couple pictures of our little bean! The first one is has all the measurements on it, but you can see the little arm and leg buds better with the second one!



It's amazing that it's grown 3 times it's size in just 2 weeks! It's definitely more than a gray blob now!



Think I'm falling in love...

Have a great day,
Love Julie

btw, I am feeling better today although I'm staying home from work to recoup! Thanks for your kind words yesterday.

Week 8 update

Hi friends,

Our ultrasound today was great! We could see our little bean again--he or she is so much bigger! Heartbeat was a strong 176 and we could see the beginnings of little arms and little legs. Phew! What a relief this ultrasound was. I had started bleeding again today at work, and was so anxious to make sure that everything was ok. It was a good thing I had this appointment scheduled already, or I would've been even more anxious! They could still see that little pool of blood in the bottom of my uterus, but it looked like it was resolving nicely--thank goodness!

The other good news is that my RE feels comfortable with how I'm doing and is turning me over to my OB. So now I get to be a "regular" pg patient. I think it will be very strange going to the OB's for the first time...I still don't feel like I'm really part of that club. But I'm glad to be and am looking forward to my OB appointment which is this Friday.

The only bummer of the day is that I seem to have some GI bug. We won't get into the details here, but I'll say that I've spent far too much time in the bathroom today (and it wasn't morning sickness either!). I've got a fever, which worries me a bit--so I've been taking some Tylenol to keep it low grade. Higher fevers during pregnancy can be dangerous to the embryo, particulally in the 1st trimester. I may even set my alarm to take my tylenol regularly tonight. At least Todd is home to help take care of me this time!

I'll get home to scan the picture of our bean and get it posted as soon as I can.

Thanks for all your kind words and encouragements. I don't know what I'd do without you!

Love,
Julie

Almost 8 Weeks!

I can't believe I'll be 8 weeks pg tomorrow! This is going to be a busy week with appointments. Tuesday afternoon I have my 8 week u/s with my RE to make sure the little bean is growing as he (that's my default pronoun) should be. I think I'll start to be able to breathe more easily after I know that everything is still on track and looking good. Right now, I still feel like I'm holding my breath--afraid for the worst..The pain of IF is still so fresh in my heart...So I'm glad that Tuesday is almost here and we'll get some reassurance!

Then on Friday we have our first OB appointment! That will for sure be a strange, yet exciting appointment! I'm writing down all my questions, & I'm a bit afraid that I've turned into a worry-wart patient, but I guess that's just the way it goes! It will be nice to meet our OB and see what their practice is like. It's gotten good reviews from 2 of my friends who were recently pg.

Not much else is going on here. Just waiting. I haven't had any more bleeding (hurray!), although I'm still spotting practically every day. I've been trying to take it easy, and not push it. Last night I slept a delightful 12 hours! (well, yes, I did have to get up to use the bathroom twice!--but other than that, it was great sleep!)

Thanks for checking in on us. I really have so much gratitude for all of you who have supported me and Todd during this journey. It has not been easy, but having your support really helps us get through it. And now, it's wonderful to be able to share our joyous new journey with you .

Much love,
Julie

As promised...a look at our bean!

We finally scanned our u/s pic and wanted to share it with you! Our little nugget of love is the tiny gray blob between the 2 vertical lines. :)



Isn't she/he darling? Ok, maybe it's too tiny to tell yet, but some of our friends swear they see gender parts!

I'm still feeling pretty good. Bleeding off and on, spotting off and on, but I'm trying really hard to stay calm despite that. I worry more when I'm bleeding, so I hope that this is a short lived episode and that it resolves soon! I'm still super tired, going to bed early, taking naps...I had a touch of nausea today, but really nothing to complain about! I'm just so amazed that this is happening.

Thanks for all your positive thoughts and encouragements. It helps to know we have so many wonderful family and friends rooting for us!

Love,
Julie

More bleeding....another ultrasound

Warning--TMI for those w/aversions to AF business...

So after that initial bleeding on Sunday, it resolved fairly quickly and turned into spotting...Tuesday am I had more bleeding, but I wasn't too worried b/c it was about the same as Sunday and stopped pretty quickly too. Spotting continued....Well today, I woke up and had more bleeding. Again, not too worried, seemed like the same deal. So I went to work, but the bleeding continued....it wasn't heavy flow, not even medium, but definitely more than spotting. I finally called the clinic and they wanted me to come in. I left work early, went home and put my feet up and waited for Todd to come pick me up. After I got home, the bleeding stopped and transitioned back to spotting.

Fortunately, our ultrasound looked great! Our little bean had grown a lot since Sunday, when he/she was too small to measure! Today it is 0.66cm long--which measures 1 day ahead (6w4d, and I'm currently 6w3d) and had a beautiful heartbeat of 116! They could still see the pool of blood, which may or may not have gotten a tad bigger since Sunday. They think it should resolve itself as the pregnancy continues and the babe gets bigger. I asked about the bleeding, and the Nurse Practitioner said that if the bleeding stays the same, that's fine...if it changes to a larger amount, or with cramps, etc, then call again. Assuming everything stays stable for now, we'll return for an u/s in another 10 days to make sure our bean is growing as it should.

Thanks for all your positive thought and support. I'm feeling better today and hope that this bumpy beginning is nothing more than a bumpy beginning (and will lead to a nice big bumpy me!--ok, too corny, I know).

Love,
Julie

BTW, I'll see if Todd will help me post a pic of our u/s to share with you!