11w5d update

I have been slacking with posting updates.  I have been so incredibly tired though and work has been beating me to a pulp:/  Anyway, I had my follow-up last Wednesday and it occurred to me that I never posted an update.  The baby was looking great!  She is measuring ahead by a couple days and her heartrate was still around 180 bpm.  Very good growth.  She was doing some little punches and kicks...so cute:)  The tech then looked at the SCH.  Still there...stupid thing.  But it's getting smaller.  Closer to 5x2x1 now.  Last time it was 6x2x2.  In the photo below it looks a lot thinner.  I asked the tech where the placenta was.  She said it was on the right and the SCH was on the left.  But then my OB later contradicted that - so who knows.  My doctor office treated last Wednesday as my offical initial OB appointment and replaced the one that was scheduled for this past Monday.  Because it was my initial visit, after my ultrasound, then I got bloodwork (basic pregnancy bloodwork plus checks of iron levels due to the bleeding), got weighed (gained 2 lbs so far), took a pee test, and then I met with my OB.  The doctor who I had for Kellen has unfortunately retired.  Pretty bummed about that.  I loved her.  She was so incredibly calming.  My new OB is pretty young (pretty sure she's younger than me - which actually doesn't say much now as I'm 37 now:/).  My former OB was more motherly while this new OB is more like a girlfriend.  It's just a first impression but she seems kinda uppity too.  I still like her though and she was very reassuring about everything.  Said she bets the SCH goes away by 20 weeks and in the meantime, continue with what I'm doing.  As long as the baby is growing well, I can continue with just taking it easy, pelvic rest, no heavy lifting, etc.  She also said that while I can come in whenever I need to be reassured with a doppler heartbeat or ultrasound, I don't need to come in weekly anymore since the baby is doing so well.  If I have another red bleed though, definitely call and come in.  So I feel like I'm being taken care of now finally!  I am still taking my progesterone suppository only in the evening now and will continue until I run out.  My OB said that would be totally fine.

My next appointment is next Monday with the high risk OB.  Then I'll follow up with my regular OB next Wednesday.  We discussed 1st trimester screening and decided that I would do the NT ultrasound and blood test (panorama or similar).  Even though our embryo is a CCS normal embryo, my RE still recommends that at least 1st trimester screening and possibly an echo at 16-20 weeks is still done as it detects other issues such as spinea bifida and other non-chromosomal issues such as heart, kidney, and other organ defects, etc.  So that's what I'll do.  It's covered by insurance and is like an extra ultrasound.  Plus with my SCH, I want the high risk people to take a look at it and give me some feedback.  Their equipment is much more advanced and they will be able to tell where the SCH is in relation to the placenta.  So fingers crossed for that on Monday!  This will be the first u/s that hubby is going to.  With starting a new job and the unpredictability regarding lengths of appointments etc, he has not been able to go to my other ultrasounds.  The ones prior to the OB ultrasounds would have been just frustrating for him though cuz I'm sure they would've made him stand behind the screen.

All in all, I'm feeling pretty positive about things.  I have only been spotting sporadically - no red bleeding for almost 2 weeks.  I did start bleeding a bit 2 days after my check in week 9 - but that was short lived.  I will be 12 weeks on Sunday - nearing a milestone.  Week 12 is considered the "safe zone" when all the major organs have finished their crucial development stage.  Now further development will take place, but the most crucial phase is what happens in the 1st trimester.  Like I said, I'm still on progesterone.  I am also routinely nauseous and am definitely showing now.  I am so very tired of taking it easy and being afraid though, wondering if this pregnancy is going to last.  I try to push those thoughts far back into my mind, but they still sneak up on me from time to time.  I'm actually nervous to use my at home doppler in case I cannot find anything.  I found Kellen's at about 10 weeks but if I use it now I think I will truly have a nervous breakdown if I can't find anything.  So I might look for it right after my appointment next Monday.  That way I will be reassured if I can't find the heartrate at home since I just saw it on the screen.  Once I find it the first time, it'll be easier to find the next time I try to listen to the heartbeat and I think it will really help ease my mind if I happen to have more bleeding episodes.

Anyway, that's all for now I think as it's getting late.  Below is the pic of last week's ultrasound.  Baby's head is on the right and the SCH is on the left.

11 week belly pic

10 week belly pic

Trying to do the pics a little differently this time:)  This was from last Sunday.  30 more belly pics to go!

Bleeding again - 9w4d update

This week was the first week in awhile that I didn't have an ultrasound and bloodwork on Tuesday.  It was somewhat unsettling.  But ever since last week, I've really started to feel pregnant.  I've popped out of my regular pants and am in maternity pants now and I'm getting nauseous pretty consistently in the morning and when my stomach is empty.  My boobs are also getting bigger and hurt.  So now that I have symptoms, it made me feel better about not checking up on the baby.

On Wednesday night, I went to bed and all was normal.  Since starting the suppositories, my spotting has gotten really light - definitely have more discharge though which is expected with the suppositories.  But later that night around 3am, I woke up and felt like I was leaking.  I got up and went to the bathroom, feeling more liquid coming out as I walked.  I didn't turn the light on in the bathroom, but could see a large dark puddle in my underwear.  So, then the light went on.  Sure enough - bright red and a lot of it was in my underwear.  I completely soaked thru the pantiliner I had on.  So out came the monster pads and I cleaned myself up as much as I could.  I wasn't gushing or anything - I think it had gradually pooled up in my vagina as I was sleeping and eventually spilled out with more coming out as I got up.  Same as with other bleeding episodes, the bleeding was more of a consistent dribble, no clots this time though.  After reassuring myself that this was just the SCH acting up, I went back to bed.  Of course I couldn't sleep though as I was paranoid I would leak all over my clothes and sheets and was just worried in general.  I was cramping a bit too - but it was just mild cramping and nothing really painful.  I got up twice more at about 45 minute intervals.  Each time was similar to the first time - although I hadn't soaked thru the monster pads, I still changed them since they were pretty wet.  The last time I got up, my flow was more of a drip.....drip.....drip instead of a dribble though so that made me feel better and I eventually fell asleep at around 6am.

I woke a couple hours later in the morning and didn't have much on my pad.  Although I could still feel myself leaking slightly, it wasn't anything like what I had earlier.  I still called up my OB though and they wanted me to come in later that morning for a US and a follow up with the on-call doctor (my OB was on vacation).  I went in shortly after dropping my son off at daycare and went in to ultrasound pretty quickly.  It was so incredibly refreshing to do this in my OB office now!  There was a large monitor for me to see everything and they had audio capabilities.  The tech immediately looked at the baby - no wasting time with an abdominal ultrasound first and checking my ovaries etc.  The baby looked great.  She was waving her little arms and legs around and her heartrate was a strong 181 bpm.  Finally heard the audio of her heartbeat and it was amazing!:)  Nothing like that sound... Anyway, after taking some quick growth measurements and noting that everything was consistent with 9w4d, she moved on to my SCH.  My SCH is now long and crescent shaped and lies around part of the amniotic sac.  It was not clear the relation of the SCH to the placenta, but it seems like there's a good chance that it is between the uterine wall and the placenta.  After talking to the doc, we just have to wait and see regarding placement of the placenta as it is still moving around (or rather my uterus is expanding and taking the placenta with it).  The SCH grew though - not surprising due to the bleeding I had.  It is now 6x2x2cm.  The tech noted that there were areas of light grey, indicating that it might be trying to heal.  But apparently, the SCH is not affecting the baby at this point.

I then went and met with the on-call OB and discussed the results with her.  She reiterated what the tech said - baby looked great.  Then we got in to the SCH.  She confirmed that it did grow and that unfortunately there is nothing we can do - just wait and see what happens.  She said that there are SCHs that are large and stick around for entire pregnancies and don't harm the baby - but then there are small SCHs that pop up and cause a miscarriage.  They are unpredictable in how large they will get and how long they will stick around.  Basically she said that as long as the baby is growing well, she is not concerned about the size or placement and that often times they will resolve as the baby gets larger.  She said that in the meantime I should remain on pelvic rest, continue to take it easy, & avoid heavy lifting.  She is recommending that I come in weekly though to monitor the baby and the SCH.  That is fine with me!  So I will go back in next Wednesday afternoon and will meet with my regular OB afterward.  Since yesterday, I have had only light spotting.  Hopefully it stays that way!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the lil bugger gets smaller and that lil miss still looks as good as she did yesterday.

Here's her pic (head is on the top and the SCH is surrounding the top 3rd of the sac - the dark crescent shape):

8w2d update

I never got a chance to post an update on my ultrasound last week.  I was 8w2d last Tuesday and went in for ultrasound and bloodwork.  My RE office said that as long as all looked well, I would be released to my OB that day and would switch from the PIO butt shots to progesterone suppositories.  My ultrasound went well, baby looked great and my SCH had not changed much from the previous week.  It was 3x2x1cm - considered small to moderate size.  My bloodwork took longer to process as they forgot to run it as a STAT result.  Eventually it got there last Wednesday.  All was great with my numbers too and they gave me my instructions regarding switching progesterone types and how to receive my records.  It was very anti-climatic.  I didn't even speak to my regular nurse to say goodbye/thank you.  But like I said before - I wasn't there to make friends.  So... oh well I guess!

I then called my OB and got scheduled for my first appointment.  Their first opening was almost 3 weeks away!  Ugh!  Such a long time to wait.  Even though we have a CCS normal embryo transferred, it is still recommended to do the same 1st and 2nd trimester screening for abnormalities that I did last time with Kellen.  I was assured that there would still be time to do the NT ultrasound and bloodwork that goes along with that.  I think the range is b/n 11 and 14 weeks to get that done.  I'll be 11w when I go in for my first OB appt - so we should be ok.  They also said that if I experienced anymore red bleeding that I should call and let them know.  But brown spotting is ok and expected with an SCH.

So I started taking the suppositories and said goodbye to the PIO and all the needles:)  The suppositories are kinda gross but once I started taking them, my spotting seemed to get really light.  So that made me happy.

Here is a pic of baby girl (her head is on the left):