10 Weeks and another Ultrasound update

Okay I should preface that this post really dates back to last Friday. But because I basically sleep half a day and work the other half I've yet to find the time to post for some reason.

So last Friday I was exactly 10 weeks and I had called my ob/gyn to make an appt. in 2 weeks just like my RE suggested. Well the receptionist insisted I come in the same week Friday to see her because I was already 9 plus weeks. Didn't matter if I had just had an ultrasound on Tues. Again, apparently the way to have more ultrasounds is to not want to have them. I suppose it's the "playing hard to get method" if you will.

To make a long story short I went in and my ob/gyn did the full check up with pap and all, which was a nice reassurance. Both nuggets were still measuring right on target...well maybe a little better than her estimate. She set my due date at April 18th and the nuggets at 9 weeks 6 days. But on my ultrasound pics it measures them as 10 weeks 1 day and 10 weeks 2 days. So I guess overacheiving is always better in this case. Both were moving around so much that she was having a hard time grabbing ones heart beat, but eventually I heard both for the very first time and was instantly brought to tears. It was also the first time I had a tummy ultrasound. When she didn't take out the probe I was thinking...wow you are a confident woman. But she was right and we saw them perfectly.

It was a rather lengthy visit (especially for her who is usually so busy) since I had to update her on all my other losses, medications and such. We talked about genetic testing and I have decided to do the non-invasive testing first since she highly recommends not doing CVS with twins. She says she lost a pair of twins with that test before. So it looks like I'll be doing the scan and then if necessary and amnio. I've been dreading this portion of the pregnancy forever but apparently it's now time. My RE mentioned that new studies show that it's actually more women in their 40's have issues with genetics than women around 35. So let's hope they are right. If I've gone this far with all of this nonsense and there are genetic issues, I don't know what I'd do.

She also had me continue my progesterone (damn) for another week. And so this friday is my graduating day (yet again). I feel like the kid that can't ever seem to get enough credits in college to graduate.

As for symptoms my morning sickness has increased a touch (especially over the weekend) but today (after a major almost losing my cookies incident) I've felt pretty good and was even able to down a salad this evening, which of course scares the crap out of me since "they" meaning the nuggets never let me eat salad. They aren't big veggie eaters yet and I've had to sneak them in here and there and even gag on a few.

On the topic of the white blood cell count, the saga still continues...although so far the score is 2 and 0. Both my RE and my Ob have said that high white blood cell count is common among pregnant women and that these tests mean nothing right now. I still have an appt. with my GP next week to see what her opinion is. I figure it can't hurt even though mr. sushinut feels it's over kill. At this point I'll take whatever blood tests and other tests are necessary to continue to grow the sushi nuggets successfully.

So that's it for now. Hopefully I'll find the energy to post more often...
Hope all is well with everyone else!

9 Weeks 4 Days - Ultrasound Update

Has it really been that long since I posted? I guess so... I honestly would have sooner but I think I relaxed a bit too much on vacation and don't seem to have enough energy to even post on my blog!

I do want to thank everyone who posted advice on the the altitude information I requested, it seriously was a great help.

So in order to move everything along I think I'll just recap in bullet points what's happened since my last post.

Here goes:

• All ready to go on vacation and on the last Friday of work I slipped and fell (on basically nothing - I guess that balance thing about pregnant women is right) on my way back from lunch. I didn't feel like I really fell hard and caught myself with my hand rather than landing on my stomach, but felt like I sort of stretched out my abdomen a little (or maybe that's the lack of exercise I was feeling the burn from). Picture an emergency downward dog yoga position if you will. Carefully checked to see if there was any spotting or cramping all afternoon long...none. Fast forward to 3a that night...light red period like bleeding (again) and blood clots (again!). Was it the fall? Or coincidence? Called the RE and luckily he was in on Saturday (I guess there were a lot of emergencies that day). Told me to come in for a quick ultrasound. I can now be referred to as the woman who cried blood clot. And apologized to the dr. for doing so. He said it's completely understandable. Ultrasound still showed two heart beats plus the lovely blood clot. Diagnosis was that the fall jostled something (like the clot) and that's why I bled. Immediately stopped bleeding by that morning but was told to again limit my physical activity. Luckily I was leaving for vacation the next morning.


• Left for my 5-6 hour drive on our trip to the mountains. My role in the trip? Stopping at every bathroom location for a pee break and to stretch my legs and reading aloud each posting of the elevation. I now know exactly what elevation each city is from my home and about 300 miles north of me. Interesting material...never really bothered to notice before. By the way the town we passed through and ate dinner at a few times was about 7,500 ft. and the town we stayed at was about 7,600 ft. Although I felt we were going downhill a lot when getting to the resort so I would estimate the exact resort elevation was probably around 7,500 ft. Which by the way is exactly where I stayed practically the whole 5 days.


• My vacation consisted of feeling nauseous, sucking on ginger drops, eating tiny meals and sleeping...repeat. Oh except for the day that I went and got a pregnancy massage, which I highly recommend to all. Oh and a couple of times I went to watch mr. sushinut do things like kayaking and fishing but only in between nap times. It was pure bliss to say the least. I never really felt out of breath (after all napping is certainly not an out of breath sport) but was careful to watch that the altitude wasn't affecting me. Which it seemed not to.


• Came home and vegged some more. Obviously since my suitcase is STILL not unpacked. More nausea with some added acid reflux type of sensations once in a while...still no vomiting.


• Yesterday - had 9 week ultrasound appt. God I hate these. I'm probably the only woman on earth that does. I get so nervous I get more nauseous than I already feel (if that's possible). Again, making sure the tissues are in the pocket...dark sunglasses in purse. Ultra sound showed two heartbeats still and slight movement in both. And one even waved at us with it's little paw! It was awesome. We talked a bit about genetic testing (another post to be written) and talked about handing me off to my obgyn. I am to call for an appt. with her in two weeks. If she's not available I'm to see my RE again, until I can see her. My dr. gave me a hug and everyone told me to keep them updated. I felt a mixture of happiness and sadness. Oh and only a couple of days more to go of the progesterone! Yay!


• Immediately when I got back from my appt. I get a call from my rheumatologist who noted before I left on vacation that my white blood cell count was high and asked if I had a urinary tract infection. At that point I thought I did and was on antibiotics (for the second time) but later found out that for the second time my results came back negative. I took the white blood cell count test again when I came back from vacation and yesterday morning they called to tell me it's still elevated at 15.3 (normal is 3-10). So my happiness was short lived with my ultrasound and I'm now freaking out about this. Dr. google says this can be usual or something suspect with an infection. But each time they've tested for an urinary tract infection it comes back negative! My fear is of course that it's something terrible but I read that often times this is usual with pregnant women. My plan is to call my RE this morning for his input and then call my GP as suggested by my rheumatologist to give me some additional tests. If anyone has had any experience with this issue I'd love to know about...

Again...it wouldn't be my blog...if there weren't enough drama going around. Sigh.

Hope all is well with everyone.

7 Weeks 4 Days Ultrasound update

The sushi nuggets grow a bit more. Still 2 heart beats. Both measuring on target.

My symptoms of nausea have returned but no actual tossing of cookies just yet. Just the irritating feeling of being hungry every second of the day but feeling if I eat something I'll hurl. Fun times. Can't wait to see what this is like on vacation with altitude. Still clocking in about 10 hours of sleep a day otherwise I crash and burn. For the time being, the spotting has stopped. The doctor thinks it was reducing the progesterone.

Speaking of altitude. The doctor was asking how high altitude was the area I was planning to visit. It's about 7,500 ft. Now I don't plan to ski or hike or do any of the very brave things I hear the rest of you doing sometimes. I plan on sitting around the lake or in my very comfortable cabin porch and read and relax. But has anyone had any issues with altitude on their trips during the first trimester? I've read everything from it can cause prematurity to it's nothing as long as you don't go over 8,000 feet. I live in a low altitude or sea level area. So this will be somewhat a change for me. Any thoughts are welcomed. My doctor seemed to cautiously say I should be okay. I will not be flying...just driving up there.