12 Weeks and Finally Caught Up!

We've passed that momentous occasion - 12 weeks!  It's the week that marks the transition period from bloat to bump as your uterus pops out of your pelvis; it marks a point at which most doctors believe the risk of miscarriage has significantly decreased (especially if you've seen the heartbeat), and it also marks a point at which most mamas start to feel much much better.

I have to say, all of the above is true for us!  I'm noticing a little bumpage going on (finally!), I no longer worry that we'll miscarry and I'm finally allowing myself to look forward to meeting our little one, and I am definitely feeling better.  Not great, but better.  I'm still on a major fruit kick; loving all things fruit!  Juice, smoothies, fresh fruit, sorbet. . .I can't get enough of any of it.  Dinner is my least favorite meal, usually by 5pm I'm feeling a little nauseous again and not wanting to eat much, but my husband, God love him, has turned into the pregnancy police and likes to make sure that I'm getting the requisite 65+ grams of protein per day.

He finally got to go with me for an appointment, our 11 week NT scan.  It definitely made it more real to him, I can tell by the way he is acting and talking about baby Emby.  :)  We went to the appointment at 9am, and met with the ultrasound tech who *finally* was able to use the belly transducer instead of the vaginal one.

What an amazing difference to see baby Emby from week 8 to week 11!

We could watch the baby move and jump on the screen, which if you haven't experienced that yet, just wait.  It's incredible.  The tech even gave us a video of it.

I can't get enough of that video - that little hand pops up and it just melts my heart.  

The tech measured something called the Nuchal Fold, which, if measuring large could indicate a potential problem with Down's Syndrome.  They pair the results of the NF Measurement with the results of a finger prick blood test.

Now, the nurses lied to me.  That finger prick HURT like a son of a gun, and they both laughed and said 'yeah, we don't like to tell people that because they'll freak out!  It's worse than a blood draw!'.

No kidding.  That was not fun.  

All said and done, our risk of Downs Syndrome with this baby is literally zero.  *Insert HUGE Sigh of Relief Here*   We would not likely have terminated, we just wanted to know so we could be prepared, and I'm glad we know now!

Finally this week as well, it's unmistakable; my pants don't fit.  I'm not 'showing' per se, but there is definitely a little bump starting to form!  My uterus can be felt just above my pubic bone, so it's popped out and on it's way to becoming a legitimate baby bump :)  Showing is something I've looked forward too since I was a teenager; it's such a special thing that us women get to experience and I'm so excited to finally start having proof that we're pregnant besides a distaste for chocolate and chicken and an insatiable appetite for orange juice!

Here is my official 12 week bump photo :)

  

Second Scan and First Bump Photo!

Because I had been spotting a bit, they called and asked for me to come back at 8 weeks pregnant to see an ultrasound tech who could look for the problem.

They never found the problem, but I got a much cuter photo of baby Emby :)

That round thing is the babies yolk sac, and then I believe you can make out the head and arms and feet!

As far as symptoms go, it was around week 7 that I started feeling pregnant.  The morning sickness is pretty bad, but I've always maintained that it could be much worse!  More than just feeling overall kind of blah and generally nauseous, I'm exhausted.  It's an exhaustion that I liken to staying up to study chemistry; that 3am crash where you literally cannot concentrate and you feel kind of out of body.  I've been going to bed at 8.30pm, napping in the afternoons. . .and it doesn't seem to matter how healthy the food that I do manage to eat really is.

Speaking of food, I'm having a serious aversion to chicken!

I started taking bump photos at 8 weeks.  I definitely had a bit of bloat going on here. . .yikes!

First Scan!

On January 14th, I mustered up my courage (I'm terrified of doctors and medical procedures) and headed in for my very first prenatal appointment at 7weeks, 4 days pregnant.

The appointment started off with the usual routine of peeing in a cup, getting weighed, blood pressure (which, I failed miserably due to a sad case of white coat hypertension!), and sitting in a room waiting to be seen.  Eventually the nurse came in, did a whole workup on my health history before bringing out the torture devices for a pap smear.

Finally, it was time to see the baby!  I was nervous because I had been experiencing some spotting, one night I cried thinking that it was over and we'd lost the baby.  It was a tense few moments as she moved the transducer around to find the baby, and all of a sudden there he was - a little blob with a little flickering heartbeat, fluttering away at 174 beats per minute!

Baby Emby is the little blob to the left of the black void.

That made the ensuing blood draw so much more tolerable :)  I got through that in one piece, and went on my way with a sense of relief and pride.  We did it!

Our BFP's!

My husband and I, after much discussion, decided in June 2010 before our first anniversary to 'stop preventing' and just let nature decide for us when a baby would come into our lives.  It is really humbling to realize that after so many years of trying so hard not to get pregnant, it's actually somewhat difficult too get pregnant!  The first month I thought for sure we had done it; I had sore boobs, felt tired and nauseous, and just felt pregnant.  I was convinced that I was - but a BFN and the arrival of Aunt Flo (AF) do not lie.

The next five months brought several more BFN's, and to be honest when November rolled around I was feeling quite discouraged.  I know some women try for months to get a baby; not only did I feel so sad for them, but I didn't want to join their ranks or worse. . .find out that something was wrong with one of us.  I had actually started to investigate the possibility that my heavy periods indicated PCOS (although I have no other classic symptoms of it) and that my husbands anti-seizure medications were affecting our fertility.

The only thing was, a stork dropped a BFP on our laps before I could even freak myself out on the internet through self-diagnosis!  For months, my friend Kirstin had been telling us that we would conceive in December. . .as a matter of fact, she was so confident that when I told her I was pregnant she had a 'So I hear you're expecting' card in her purse with a handwritten note that said 'I told you so - congrats on your pregnancy'.

I know I ovulated on our around the 6th-8th of December.  My husband and I had only DTD twice - and I remember being upset that one evening it didn't happen because I was out at a charity event.  Knowing I was ovulating I thought for sure we'd miss the window again.

About a week later, I started noticing that my boobs were sore.  Now, my boobs always get sore before AF, but not like this.  Not a dull ache. . .not this ache up into my armpits, and not an ache that prevents my husband from hugging me.  That was my first clue.

I took a FRER on the afternoon of 7-8dpo (I'm impatient!) and even though it was not positive, something just felt right about it.

I took another on the morning of 8-9dpo. . .and again. . .negative, but something was telling me to keep testing.

Please ignore the DPO markings, I believe they are incorrect.

8 and 9dpo FRERs

The next morning (9-10dpo), I tested again with a FRER and got this.  The line was plain as day in real life, especially when taken outside.  But I still didn't believe it!

That same afternoon, after having seen the line on that FRER above, I went to Wal-Mart and bought a two pack of blue-dye Equate tests and a two pack of FRER Gold Digital tests.  I saved my urine up for 4 hours, and on the afternoon of 10dpo, the blue dye test gave me this:

This just goes to show that blue-dye tests can be VERY good and accurate at detecting early pregnancy!

Blue-dye tests are known for what is called an 'evap'. . .where a blue line shows up in the results window making you think you are pregnant.  There are some big differences between an evap and a faint positive, however.

An evap will be thin, with most of the blue dye on the left of the test line.  A faint positive will be thick and solid, as mine above.

The next morning, I peed in a cup and dipped another blue dye; it gave me this MUCH darker line; definitely positive!

I dipped a FRER Gold Digital into the cup with the same urine in it, and three minutes later there she was: my very first, no questions asked, BFP!  I remember standing in the bathroom, waiting for the three minutes to pass. . .the whole time the timer on it was blinking and I kept trying to distract myself by cleaning the vanity.  The timer stopped blinking for a split second, and the read switched to 'YES +', which is exactly what I did!  I jumped and yelled 'YES!'

Of course I was still skeptical.  The FRER Gold Digi's have been known to put up false positives, and we all know the bad reputation that blue-dye tests have.  So, (ok ok, I'm a testaholic!) I dipped in a FRER. . .and got this beautiful faint pink line!  

For those of you who love studying tests, that three + tests from three different kinds of tests using the same urine.

Being the worry-wart testaholic that I am, I tested every day for the following 4 days, and watched the test line on my FRER's get darker and darker, and was finally satisfied when  my test line was darker than the control:

Until we get our first scan, I don't think I'll 100% relax, but those dark lines don't lie.  I can't believe this is actually happening!

What is 'Emby'?

Welcome to my new blog.  I have something of an obsession with blogging - I love the outlet, love sharing my life, and love the distraction it brings from both everyday life, and daily stress.

In July, 2009 I married my best friend.  In planning our wedding, I created a login on a popular wedding-related website and became very well known on the message boards under the alias 'MountainBride'.

A lot of people shortened that to 'MB'. . .one thing led to another, and it eventually became 'Emby'.  So there you have it, yours truly!

The primary purpose of this blog is personal: I simply want to document the next big thing in our lives.  On December 17th, 2010 we got our very first BFP.  I'll have to tell you about that in the first real blog post. . .so read on!