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    Just call me ‘Trouble’ (AKA 11w)

    I had my first appointment with my regular OB Thursday. I’ve been looking forward to it, and nervous at the same time.

    Nervous because I haven’t been able to pick up the heart-beat of the wee-one through my doppler all week. I was going to post that I had found it last Thursday (which I swear to you I did), but then when I tried again on Sunday there was nothing. There was nothing on Monday, or Tuesday either. I tried to comfort myself by thinking “well, it really IS too soon”, “Most people  even at 10w don’t hear the heart-beat”, “I’m still nauseous as hell” but the reality is that I was scared. What if the baby had stopped growing? What if my body didn’t miscarry because of the progesterone and was tricked into thinking I was still pregnant.

    At today’s appointment Dr. M finished my exam, and even exclaimed how big my uterus was, for where I should be in pregnancy right now. She broke out her doppler almost excited to use it. And then we stood around in the room waiting. And waiting. And waiting. She navigated that wand across my belly and got nothing but my heart-beat. Her face looked confused. It felt like forever and I was ready to scream out “Get the u/s RIGHT NOW!!!!”. Tears were forming down my throat, but the u/s she did get.

    When it went in, all that you could see was an empty half moon shape. Then she pushed in further and there it was — the kiddo, with a heart-beat flickering away. It had pushed up against the corner of my uterus. It was either snuggling up (like G snuggles up against the edge of his crib) or purposefully hiding. Dr. M said “You’ve got a baby in there!” (at which point in time, by the way, those tears DID run down my face).

    And then, just like that the kid began to do flips. I’m not joking. It mooned us a few times, waved his arms and legs. Dr. M laughed. I guess she doesn’t get these kind of performances too often. And now here I am thinking “Why does this child play pranks on me already?” A whole week of no heart-beat, only to get a “Psych! Gotcha” wave in the end. Ugh, I hope this is not a preview of things to come.

    But, the good news is, all is on track. I’m actually measuring at 11w already. Not too far off since I’m 10w4d today.

    I got a refill on my anti-sick meds too. Since the end of morning sickness is no-where in sight, and my current prescription ran out, I’m now setup for another few weeks.

    Our trip to Bulgaria and their measles epidemic is also nothing we can do anything about. I was inoculated as a child, and even though I’ve been inoculated, I haven’t gotten a booster in the past 10 years. There’s nothing they can really do now. Yes, I could do an antibody check for it, but to be honest, at this point I’d rather not know all the nasties I could be exposed to.

    Also, delivery wise, I’m still leaning c-section. Although I haven’t formally made up my mind on this, Dr. M started off delivery conversations with c/s. I asked her if there was a reason why I might not be a good candidate for a VBAC, but didn’t really get an answer. Ultimately S and I interpreted something different in her response. It’s something we’ll revisit again, but for now, tentative plan is c/s. We’ll schedule the surgery for 11/22 (day after my EDD), with the hope that I go into labor on my own. Instead of waiting for dilation, however, I’ll just head for the hospital, get fitted into a gown and proceed to surgery. This way baby gets to bake in as long as it plans to, and it still gets to choose it’s birthday 🙂

    I leave you with a bunch of photos Dr. M took while trying to chase the kid around. Enjoy!

    (oh and bottom right — that’s a baby butt giving you a full moon. PS don’t get excited about the in-between the leg shot — that’s just the umbillical chord)

    How far along: 11w
    Weight: me = I refuse to weigh myself for another week after the indulgent week-end I’ve had. But on Wed I was 126.6lb.
    Baby size: Just over 1.5″ (Wow it’s grown a lot in the last month!)
    Sleep: Good. I’ve even had a few nights I haven’t had to wake-up to pee.
    Gender: No news
    Movement: Nothing as of now.
    Feeling: Still gross, but I’ve had a few days without alms to the pukie gods. I’m hoping this will become a trend.
    What I miss: Wine. After watching my friends do wine tastings this week-end, I realized how much I’d love to have some too. The got me some faux sparkling wine (aka sparkling grape juice) though, which was very sweet!
    What I am looking forward to: More days of feeling good.
    Weekly Wisdom: If you give a phlebotomist a lab form they’ll take out 5 vials of blood.
    Food cravings: I had a craving for a pickle the other day. No, I’m not making a pregnancy funny.
    Fetal development:
    The baby’s hands will soon open and close into fists, and tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under its gums. Some of its bones are beginning to harden.
    It’s already busy kicking and stretching (and flipping and mooning), and its tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as its body grows and becomes more developed and functional.

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