13w4d: NT scan last Friday and a clear sono pic with a human-looking baby!!!

It's amazing how much of a difference 3 weeks make. When I had my 10w sono, Pumpkin still looked like a little blob of a gummy bear. However, at my NT scan last week, I could see full facial features. Pumpkin was being so adorable, too... opening and closing his/her (although I'm leaning towards his) mouth and moving all over the place. I still don't have much of a bump, but Pumpkin is super busy in there!

I bought a doppler a couple of weeks ago. I was a little bit bummed that I hadn't heard the heartbeat - even though I was having appointments and everything was fine. Well, Dh and I FINALLY heard a solid heartbeat yesterday. I listened again this morning. It's the best thing. I'll take a recording and try to post it here.

Other than that, one more final tomorrow. I am taking a much-needed study break. I am about to lose my mind!

10w2d:What a week!

 

The picture of Pumpkin, above, is the one I got yesterday at my OB appointment, but I have a lot of back-tracking to do... this has been quite a week. I missed half of my classes (thank goodness there's only one more week of school left...)

Wed: 9w5d - I met with the new OB (let's call them Dr. Posh) from the practice that only delivers at my dream hospital. My dream hospital is like the taj mahal of birthing options. HOWEVER, this practice seems to cater to women who don't work. The appointments are all at arbitrary times of the day and are only Mon-Fri. Additionally, they don't do routine sonograms. If you need a sonogram, they send you to their "off-site sonographer" which is YET another appointment after which you have a follow-up with Dr. Posh. I mentioned my discomfort with not being "monitored" and Dr. P let me know that I could schedule an appointment for a sono on Monday if I wanted. So, I've taken a day off from work to go and have a sono. Somehow, I don't think this is going to work. Dr. P was VERY thorough and knew her stuff through and through. I told her about my history and my sister's history. I handed her the letter from New Hope. We chatted for a good 30 minutes and I left feeling like I had hit the jackpot, but without the sono to assuage my never-ending fears! She took about 12 vials of blood, performed an internal exam, then sent me on my way.

Thu: 9w6d - Work was stressful. That's nothing new. While I was on a TWO HOUR call with one of our offshore teams, I started to get crampy. I was starving at that point, so I didn't think anything of it. When the meeting was finally over, I rushed to the bathroom to relieve myself. When I wiped, I noticed a little bit of pinkish brown on the TP. NOOOOOOOO.... Every crazy thought imaginable went through my head. I was still crampy. Naturally, I hit the interwebs to find out of anyone else out of the 7B people on earth had ever been through this. I found solidarity in a November 2013 birth club I belong to. One of the women said that she'd had an internal exam, as well, and saw a little bit of blood afterwards. The cramping was persistent, so I decided to skip school. I went home, kicked my feet up and went to bed at some ridiculous hour - even before my 9 year old did. 

Fri: 10w0d - At this point, I realized that when I booked my appointment with Dr. P, I'd forgotten to cancel my appointment with my old OB - the one who delivered DD, but is only affiliated with a hospital I refuse to ever set foot in again (or so I thought). We'll call him Dr. TnT for tried and true! I was still cramping on Friday, but hadn't wiped any blood since early that morning. Either way, a trip to Dr. TnT couldn't hurt!

Sat: 10w1d - DH, DD and I head out to Dr. TnT first thing in the morning. I couldn't wait to see Pumpkin on the monitor. I made DH and DD wait outside until we verified everything was okay. And it was! DD loved seeing Pumpkin bounce all over the screen - oh, how much of a difference a week makes! Pumpkin was definitely larger, even though Dr. TnT did not date me. I was so relieved that everything was going well. So, at the end of the appointment, Dr. TnT was telling me about the changes that have happened since I was last there (for this purpose) NINE years ago. They deliver at a new hospital (cue the cherubs signing!!) because they got a lot of complaints from the old hospital. The other change was the NT scan that most docs do in the first trimester. So, Dr. TnT sent me on my way with my welcome packet of prenatals and a referral for the NT scan. Dr. TnT also told me to make an appointment for four weeks out (ON A SATURDAY) to meet with him again. As much as I love the Posh doctors, I don't think it'll make sense to go to them. So, I think I'm gonna stick it out with Dr. TnT. All's well that ends well! I've attached the pic of Pumpkin from yesterday. He/She is looking down. You can see the head (takes after DH). Now I'm off to catch up on everything else... including this book give-away!

9w2d: Look who's growing so nicely!

 

  When I had my appointment on Thursday, I could see a difference in the size of Pumpkin with my naked eye. I decided to put all three photos together for comparison. 

At 6w6d, measuring 7w0d, Pumpkin was 9.17mm.

At 7w6d, measuring 8w0d, Pumpkin was 16.07mm.

At 8w6d, measuring 9w1d, Pumpkin was 24.15mm.

I know I can't be the only person fascinated by the growth of a human embryo. I keep telling dh that it's so interesting that Pumpkin knows "what to do". 

Apologies about the book and the cd in the picture. I had to flatten out these sono pics, somehow.

9w1d: Graduation from RE - pomp & circumstance

 

 I've never met a graduation I didn't love. While some people loathe the speeches, the endless sitting in an inappropriate venue sweating at the brow, the seemingly never-ending stream of people you don't know only to realize your graduate is coming through the other entrance... the one waaay on the other side of the room. Yeah, I get it. However, I have always loved graduations. Furthermore, I have always loved MY graduations. Maybe that explains why I enrolled in law school at the ripe old age of 30-cough-something, despite already having an advanced degree. I get one more shot at a graduation...

However, Thursday's graduation was of a different variety. Pumpkin (measuring 9w1d on Thursday) graduated from New Hope Fertility Center. It was bittersweet. I paid my final bill - but got another one in the mail this morning that doesn't match, so more on that later. I got another fuzzy sonogram picture (gotta love the blob). I got a letter to take to my new OB - I get to meet her on Wednesday, and I can't wait! I got a cd of "powerful music by Mozart", which is RIGHT up my alley. AND, in a weird twist of events, when I got back from my RE appointment, someone at work gave me back the copy of Inconceivable I had loaned her in the Fall (when she came to me crying about her high FSH levels). So, Thursday was a day of new beginnings, sans the junior band playing pomp and circumstance. 

This is such an exciting and important step. I am so happy to have made it here. I can definitely feel my mid-section expanding. I know my uterus is supposedly only the size of a grapefruit, but I am feeling quite pregnant, now - and nauseated... in case any one of the two readers of my blog wondered.

When I finished up with my sonogram there, I asked the nurse what happens after I have my baby: "will you guys call me? should I call you?" She looked at me with puzzlement and said "uh, we'll probably call you... or you can call us... whatever works." Hahaha... I'm sure they won't miss me one bit, but I'm kinda gonna miss those guys!

6w6d: heartbeat... you make me feel so sweet!

Had my first sono today! Pumpkin is measuring 7w0d and everything seems to be right on target. I didn't get a chance to ask the nurse how many bpms for Pumpkins heart. Dh was there at the beginning of the appointment, but missed the sono because NYC parking sucks and he had to move the car.
I have two more appointments at the fertility clinic, then they release me to my OB.