My boobs are so sore and itchy!! Argh. Every time someone (who doesn't know I'm pregnant) hugs me tight it's painful. I've been wearing a maternity bra 24/7 and it's hard to find a comfortable position to sleep in. Pregnancy insomnia is so frustrating! I'm So tired during the day that all I want to do is crawl into bed, but once I get there, it's hard staying asleep. It's 3.46am and I'm wide awake. Due to the brown bleeding, hubby took me to the Emergency department at the Mercy hospital this morning. Was my first time being a patient in a hospital and did not realise the interminable wait time! We were there from 8am to 9.30am, with most of that waiting to be triaged. A lovely nurse Colleen did the triaging and took the blood work (for blood type and HCG level), and then she paged Dr Chris Russell to come scan me. He arrived pretty promptly and took us upstairs for an ultrasound. Result below. 
Turns out baby is FINE - has been steadily growing and is exactly where Bump should be. What a relief. Apparently bleeding is very normal, especially after having a pap smear and having sex. The cervix is highly vascularised at the moment and bleeding is common. Dr Chris's advice was to try and not worry. Ha! I'm pregnant, hormonal, and carrying this grape/date sized life with a heartbeat and internal organs, and eyes, and nervous system, and everything else in my tummy! Ok, I'll relax. Going to try and be all nonchalant about creating this life and all. :)
Happy end to a night of stress. Yay! P.s. I think I'm in love with my OB. He's so NICE. and KNOWLEDGABLE. and well-dressed. and doesn't think I'm crazy (well, at least he doesn't show it). Tonight I noticed some discharge- it was brown blood that was visible on two tissues. We called the obstetrician who said it was nothing to worry about - but to come in to the hospital in the morning for a scan if it would make me feel better. I'm very worried about baby! I would give anything for baby to be ok. I haven't bled or spotted at all this pregnancy, and for it to start now is scary!
It's been a very emotional day- we lost our family dog of 16 years tonight. It was time for him to sleep and rest but it's still so hard to say goodbye. Just eat that entire bag of lolly snakes? Been craving intense sugar hits!
Today we had our first obstetric appointment with Dr Chris Russell! I've never been to an OB appointment before so did not know what to expect at all. After the hellos, Chris pretty much said, "Well, let's take a look at the baby then!" and I hopped up on his table for the ultrasound. Loved that he did that first as, for me (at this visit anyway), that was the main event! I've recently been wishing there was a window into my uterus so I could see that everything was going ok. The gel went on, the wand pushed in, and hey presto - he found Baby! See amazing picture above - taken by my wonderful husband, as I was way too busy crying. WHAT AN AMAZING FEELING. How to explain? Well, I've known I've been pregnant for the past 2 months - what with the no period, sore boobs, tiredness, emotionality, hard lower tummy, and heightened sense of smell - but I really had no idea or concept that everything was progressing normally. The lack of morning sickness, which I should see as a blessing, also concerned me, as I didn't really *feel that* pregnant. I've been able to work a fairly full-on full time job across three offices, continue my dance training, and keep up with my family and friends. This is in stark contrast to many of the posts I see on my birth month facebook group that complain of constant nausea, exhaustion, and just being exhausted and miserable. I FELT FINE. GLOWING with our special little secret. Additionally, I've been reading a lot of pregnancy books, which frankly, have a lot of horror stories and incredibly sad tales that served to educate me and terrify me at the same time. My BFF Liz told me to stop reading the books, but I just couldn't - good advice though! SEEING the baby, still in my belly, growing as he/she should be, with a visibly beating heart was an almost spiritual experience. Hubby and I MADE that life! He/she is a product of our wonderful love. I am SUSTAINING THAT LIFE IN MY BELLY. That life is mine and ours to nurture and teach and love and protect and PARENT. WOW.
Anyway, back to the amazing picture above - Baby from crown to rump is 2cm, he saw a heartbeat, the head, limbs, and Dr Chris dated him/her at 8 weeks 6 days. My estimated due date is the 6th January 2014. Dr Chris - he said that since seeing the scan, there is now only a 1% chance of miscarriage. What a relief. There was apparently a 20-30% chance of something being wrong before being able to see baby on a scan. After he let hubby and I weep a bit and hug and take photos, we got back to the appointment matters- which consisted of a medical history, health check, answering my incessant questions, a pap smear, and referrals for bloods and another 12 week scan. We were very happy with him - he was clear, direct, professional but friendly, knowledgable, and answered all our questions without hesitation. What I really appreciated about him was that he was able to form an opinion and give it to us without prevaricating, and his opinion that he will only intervene medically if it's really necessary. His answers to our questions:
Til next time! xo |
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