Felt baby move for the 1st time!

September 26th 2011  9:12am

While sitting at the computer in a somewhat slouched position, I felt it.  A tiny tap...tap in my lower right abdomen.  It was like a little knock, knock... "hey mom, just letting you know I'm ok...  you can stop worrying now!"

This just made my day <3

1st OB visit and another sonogram! 9/20/11

Today was my first visit, so the majority of the time was spent answering a million questions about medical history.  Other than that, it was to move along just as any other quick OB check.  They measured my iterus and then tried to find the baby's heartbeat with the doppler machine.  After several minutes of no luck finding the heartbeat, they decided to take me back for a quick sonogram.  And here is what we saw!

Hello World!! I am officially gummy bear status now. Mom got to see my little arms and legs wiggling around today. In this picture I am laying with my head on the left. My heartrate today was 176bpm! My doctor says I'm perfect ♥ 9/20/11 (9 weeks/4days)

Meet the doctors...

Today, I meet my doctors for the 1st time.  I chose a small practice in Winston Salem, Valaoras and Lewis.  I originally wanted to go back to the doctor that delivered my other 3 children...but after my last delivery experience, I chose to go with someone else.  I picked this practice because of the recommendations I read online as well as a good recommendation coming from our fertility doctor.  Plus, their practice consists of 2 doctors...not 12 like some of the larger practices.  Maybe its just a preference thing, but I would like to actually get to know the doctors who will deliver our baby and not just have had the chance to meet them 1 time for 15 minutes.

So, here they are...meet our doctors.

Thomas G. Valaoras, MD     &   Andrew J. Lewis, MD

Paranoid...

I am very nervous.  I worry all the time, ...although I don't voice it alot to those around me. I don't want to seem panicky or paranoid but there is not day that goes by that I don't wonder if everything is ok in there.  After everything we have been through, I think that subconsciously I am preparing myself for the worst.  I take my medication religiously and have taken every precaution for early pregnancy that I have read.  No sandwich meats, no hotdogs, no nail salons...nothing that is labeled as "possibly harmful in early pregnancy."  Ok, so maybe I am paranoid, but I have a good reason.

I know this is my last child and I really want to enjoy my pregnancy.  Maybe these feelings will get better after I pass the first trimester...but knowing me, probably not.  Maybe when I begin to feel kicks everyday and the baby has some sort of "schedule" that I can recognize I can chill out a bit.  Then again, I may not feel some sort of relief until after I am far enough along to know that the baby is at least big enough to survive outside of the womb.

I don't remember being as worried with my other 3 children.  Maybe it was because I was 10 years younger.  I suppose I have turned into a worry wart... parenting will do that to you.

Take as directed....

Because we went through IVF, I am on several medications to support the pregnancy:

1. Vivelle Patch every 72 hours(estrogen)
2. Estrodiol 2mg 2x daily(estrogen)
3. Endometrin 100mg 2x daily (progesterone)
4. Prometrium 200mg 2x at night (progesterone)
5. Aspirin 81 mg 1 daily
6. And...of course, 2 Flintstone Vitamins every day :)

I get to discontinue all medications on October 22nd (14 weeks pregnant) Dr. says that placenta takes over supplying for the baby at that point and medication support is no longer needed.  I cannot tell you how happy I will be to get to the 14 week point!

1st trimester yucks....

Just over the past few days I have "felt" the pregnancy.  I am nauseated almost daily, although it usually doesn't amount to anything, just that feeling of "ugh."  I am having a horrible time with being tired all the time.  If my day allows, a 3 hour nap is nothing for me.  I am having some issues with indigestion, which has never been a problem for me with other pregnancies until I was late in the 3rd trimester, but never this early.  Tums are my friend.  Ranch dressing is not.

We tell the kids...

Today we told the kids that they have a new brother or sister on the way!  They already knew about the IVF procedure and that we were wanting to have another child, but they didn't know we had been successful until today!  Ethan is looking forward to babysitting...for the money, of course.  Zach said it will only be ok if it is a boy so he can teach him how to wrestle and Haley said right the opposite, wanting a little sister.  Haley has been our baby for 10 years, so this will be an adjustment for her.  She says if it's a boy, we are giving it up for adoption, lol...silly girl!

*Announcements*

Very few people know that I am indeed pregnant. I have avoided most conversations where I thought the subject would be brought up.  Our initial plans were to wait until the 2nd trimester to tell everyone, but after sharing our IVF journey...naturally people wanted to know if it worked and I could only avoid talking to my family and friends for so long.  Today I mailed out our "We're Expecting" announcements to all of our family and friends.