Let me give kind of a run down of the last 19 weeks to bring everyone up to date.
Week 4 - I found out that I was pregnant on July 4th, 2007. I took one of those really cool digital tests. Here is the picture I sent to Brad.
Brad was in Groton, CT, at the time I found out. We had been trying in June before he left. So I went to the clinic and took their pee in a cup test. Then they scheduled the new baby class for me to attend.
Week 6 - This was where they tell you that you are pregnant and things are changing for you. Eat right, don't drink, stop smoking, and the rest of the do's and don'ts of the next 10 months. They give you a book "What to expect when you are expecting". The class is really informative and great if you are going to be in Charleston the whole pregnancy because you fill out all of your paperwork for the civilian hospital and everything. For me it was a complete waste of my time, as I was moving in a week. Anyway, after the class I scheduled an ultrasound appointment to make sure that everything was okay before I left for CT.
Week 7 - I went in for my 1st ultrasound. Here I got to see the little one moving around and heard the heartbeat. They gave me a few pictures. They also took a lot of blood to run lab work on. When I say a lot, they took probably 10 vials full. They wanted to schedule an appointment to see the doctor in 2 weeks but I was leaving the next week so they gave me my records and sent me on my way.
Week 8 - The Navy packed up the house in Charleston and sent it on its way to Hawaii. I packed myself up and drove to Groton, CT. I was able to switch insurance and they made an appointment for me there very quickly.
Week 9 - I saw a doctor and had a 2nd ultrasound to make sure that everything was still fine and growing properly. Since everything was doing well, I made an appointment for the week before we left CT to get a clean bill of health and because of the traveling we were going to be doing.
Week 11 - We went to Maine to see family and went on a pretty vigorous hike to see some really great waterfalls. I over did things and had some bleeding and cramping so I went to see the doctor. They did a 3rd ultrasound and found that the placenta was covering the cervix, also known as placenta previa later in pregnancy. The doctor also said that my ovaries were very enlarged and that we would watch everything to monitor but that there was not anything else to do except get a Rhogam shot. Well, this really did not satisfy my need to know what was going on so I called my trusted friend Ronee, who happens to be an ob doctor. She gave me a little more information than the doctor so I was a little more at ease about the situation. She said that the placenta could move upwards as my uterus grows and it would not be a major factor in the pregnancy. I needed to be on bed rest and not be on my feet for more than an hour. She also told me to drink lots of water and just chill out. Well that was kind of easy and hard at the same time. Since we were living in an hotel at the time, there was not much for me to do besides lay in bed watching TV or go down to the lobby to use the Internet. It was hard because that little room got real small real quick. It is amazing how when someone tells you not to do something, you can't think of anything else. But I had to make myself be good for the sake of the pregnancy. So I spent the remainder of the time in Groton on bed rest. The bleeding and cramping stopped within 1 or 2 days of seeing the doctor and being on bed rest.
Week 12 - We had my last appointment in CT before we headed home to see family and then on to our new home in Hawaii. I saw the midwife and had a 4th ultrasound. Baby was doing just fine. This was a scary appointment because she tried to find a heart beat with the doppler and could not find it. We have a history of this that I will share in week 15 that will explain why this was such a heart wrenching moment for both of us. So the midwife pulled the ultrasound machine in the room and we saw the little one dance around. She gave us a few more pictures and copied my records for my travels.
Week 13 & 14 - We were traveling across country stopping in Memphis and then in Texas. Nothing to report on the pregnancy.
Week 15 - We left the mainland and flew to our new home in Hawaii. This is a big week for many reasons. We are starting a new chapter in Brad's Navy career and in our life in a new place. An island to be exact in the middle of the ocean with nothing around but water. This is also a huge point in our life because this is the week that we found out that we lost our first baby back in December 2006. We went to the doctor to have lab work done at 15 weeks 3 days. The nurse tried to find the heartbeat with the doppler and could not find it. The doctor took us over and used an ultrasound to see what was going on. There was no heartbeat and there was no blood flow to the baby. I was scheduled for a D&C the next day. The surgery went okay. I lost a lot of blood and they almost had to give me a transfusion. I spent the night in the hospital because of this. Brad was on leave and was there with me every step of the way. Let me tell you, I knew that I found a truly awesome mate to spend the rest of my life with but he really reminded me of this during this time. When someone can change out your bed pan, you really know what that person is made of. Even though we were dealing with the biggest loss of our lives, it was a true celebration of our love for each other too. The doctor was great, truly made the situation bearable and even counseled us in the best way. I don't think I would have made it through without Brad first and foremost then Dr. Loveier for giving us the science behind what happened. The Doc sent things off to be tested and results came back as a partial molar pregnancy. To give a really short and dirty explanation of what a partial molar is, it is a pregnancy where there is a fetus that develops but at some point in the development it is over taken by a 'mole' because of a chromosomal imbalance. There were 2 sperm that fertilized one egg. The baby would not make it to term normally. This happens 1 out of 1000 pregnancies. After the termination of the pregnancy, there is a waiting period of 6 months to 1 year before you can try again. There is a serial testing of your hormone levels to make sure that the 'mole' if completely gone and not regrowing. I was tested 2 weeks after the procedure and my hormone levels were down to 2. Doc told us that we should wait 6 months before we tried again, which was June of this year. So we tried and got lucky right off the bat. So once we hit this point in this pregnancy we were really scared. We tried not to get too excited about things until we knew that it was going to 'stick'. So maybe traveling during this week was not such a great idea but I think it kept us from dwelling upon the loss. My first priority once we got to Hawaii was to get things checked out and make sure that all was well. Needless to say, we don't like using the dopplers very much at all.
Week 16 - I got everything switched over to Hawaii and luckily was able to book an appointment for a 5th ultrasound and see the doctor the same week. The ultrasound was really kind of heart wrenching to begin with but after we saw the heart beating, things only got better from there. The little one woke up and did some dancing for us too. This ultrasound was pretty awesome. It is really amazing how technology has changed over the years. Both of our moms said they might have had one ultrasound during one of their children's pregnancies but nothing like this. I can't imagine not having the ultrasounds just for my peace of mind. The tech did a complete anatomy scan of the little one this time. This is usually done at 20 weeks but because of my history they did it early. They took measurements of the brain, the spine, the leg, the arm, the stomach, the liver and the heart. They showed us the blood flowing in the little heart both to and from color coded blue and red. We saw 5 fingers on one hand and 5 toes on one foot. It took probably an hour. We also had an intern watching and learning. It was neat because she asked questions that the tech explained so we got to know what was going on medically too. It was really neat how they took some of the measurements. To see the liver and stomach they machine showed a cross section where the tech froze a view of the spine so you could see the vertebrae section along with the organs. Brad commented how amazing it was for the tech to be able to pic that out of what looked to us like a bunch of black holes and voids. They checked the placenta again and it had not moved so they are going to do another ultrasound at 20 weeks. This will also be the time that we can find out the sex of the little one. The tech also checked for another molar pregnancy and had a different tech verify her findings. So far it does not look like anything is going to go wrong. Needless to say, we both spent the rest of the day on cloud 9. We meet with the doctor a few days later. He did not give any indication that this was to be a high risk pregnancy and that we could breathe a little easier. There were some anomalies in my blood work but it looked like it was from the Rhogam shot I received in CT. I go back October 22 for both a checkup and the 6th ultrasound.
Week 17 - Nothing major going on. We are getting excited about things now. Not that we weren't excited before but we are allowing it to become really real now. Or at least I am.
Week 18 - I had a physical therapy appointment for my back. I have scoliosis that has given me problems in my day to day life before the pregnancy so I knew that it was going to be a problem now more than ever. So I wanted to get a start on the problem and find some exercises and stretches to do now and for the duration of the pregnancy. Most of what I did before I got pregnant I can't do now (for example, taking ibuprofen for the pain). The appointment went well. I have a list of daily exercises that I need to do and if I don't do them I really can't complain about my back. So here is to doing my daily exercises.
Week 19 - We are currently in this week and there are not any problems or goings on right now. I am anxiously awaiting the next ultrasound. Now that we have a house in mind, I really want to start thinking about the nursery. That is so crazy to think about. I have not let myself get too involved with thinking about baby just to protect myself. I know that things can still go wrong but I am also trying not to dwell on the negative too. Things happen for a reason too so if it is not meant to be with this one than we will try again. Okay, enough bad thoughts for now.
You might be saying, so you have had a few ultrasounds, where are these pictures??? What do you look like now that you have an alien growing inside of you, is it like the movie where you see the creature moving on the outside??? Well, I will work on getting those posted. Brad is asleep right now so I can't take pictures of the ultrasounds yet. I will do that as soon as I can get some time this weekend. Patience and a drum roll please!!!
Aloha and Lots of Love!
Lauren
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