Sunday, November 18, 2012

Our Journey

July 11, 2012 was the day I found out that I was pregnant again. I took a pregnancy test around 7:30am because I had been feeling a little strange but I was still surprised when I looked down a minute later and it said pregnant. I have had the feeling of looked down two other times and seeing the words pregnant spelled out for me and being so excited, but this time was different, this time I was scared and nervous. In reality I had been thinking for a week or two that I could be pregnant, but kept denying the feelings because how could I be pregnant? We really hadn't been trying and I have always only gotten pregnant on medication and I hadn't been taking any meds. Could this be real?

I took a picture of the test with my phone and sent it to Mike with a question mark under the picture. He texted back, “I told you!!!!” He had been telling me to take a test for at least a week, but I kept saying, “It’s just side effects from Peru. I am not pregnant”. So, on my lunch break I called Utah Fertility Center to tell them I was pretty sure I was pregnant and needed to know what I should do from here. They called back and told me that I needed to come in the next morning to have my blood drawn to check my HCG level. I went in the following morning and they called me later that afternoon and said, “Your HCG level is at 8026, that means you are very pregnant. Congratulations.” So I scheduled an ultrasound for the 25th of July to make sure everything was developing correctly and to hopefully hear a heartbeat. With our first pregnancy we never heard a heartbeat and with our second pregnancy we lost it before we ever made it to the doctors, so we were really praying to hear something.

First Ultrasound

July 25, 2012 was our first ultrasound and baby got a clean bill of health. The heartbeat was 148 beats per minute, measuring 7 weeks and 6 days, and the Physician’s Assistant said that the baby looked to be implanted in a good place on my uterus. It was so crazy to see the tiny chest rise and fall in rhythm with the heartbeat and then when we heard the heartbeat, it was like nothing else. At that moment, this pregnancy suddenly became very real and very exciting. We had a new found hope that this pregnancy was going to last and we were really going to be able to bring a child into this world; we were going to be parents!

As we left the doctors office we scheduled our second Ultrasound and were told that if everything looked good I would “graduate” and be able to go back to my regular OBGYN.



Second Ultrasound

August 6, 2012 we went in for our second ultrasound and once again baby got a clean bill of health. The heartbeat was 166 beats per minute and Dr. Gurtcheff said the baby was measuring perfectly and everything looked really good. We weren't told what the baby was measuring, but assumed since we were told everything was measuring well, baby was measuring right on track. Dr. Gurtcheff gave me the thumbs up to go a head and schedule an appointment to see my regular OBGYN; I “graduated” from Utah Fertility Center, what a feeling!

I received great care and learned a lot while at Utah Fertility Center, but I was glad to be going back to see Dr. England. I knew that Utah Fertility Center wouldn't send me back to my regular OBGYN if they had any doubt that this pregnancy was going to have early complication, but I also know that Dr. England will take great care of me and this growing baby.


Third Ultrasound

August 23, 2012, was our third ultrasound and our first appointment seeing Dr. England. I was really excited to see him, but one thing I remembered quickly is that, unlike Dr. Gurtcheff at Utah Fertility Center, he does deliveries and is often very late to his appointments, but I also respect that because he makes delivering his patients a priority.

This appointment was a little different then our other two appointments, just for the fact that I had to get labs drawn, they took a blood pressure, and they also got my weight. Utah Fertility Center only follows patients up until a certain week of pregnancy and then they send you back to your regular OBGYN so they don’t do the entire lab work up that a normal OBGYN does on your first prenatal appointment.

Although it was nice to catch up with Dr. England, the best part of the appointment was the ultrasound. Our growing baby measured at 12 weeks and 2 days, was a little over 5cm long (head to rump), and the heartbeat was 167 beats per minutes. So once again our baby got a clean bill of health. It was fun and reassuring to hear the heartbeat again, but it was really cool to see our baby move around like it was. Dr. England even said, “How am I expected to get a picture of this baby if it won’t stop moving?” It was moving all over the place and it is so wired to me that I can’t feel any of it, but that will come soon enough.

Our next doctor’s appointment is on September 20th and we will be around 16 weeks at that time.

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