Adjusted Date - 8 Weeks Today!

So I finally got my long-awaited appointment yesterday morning! It was pretty basic, check in, wait an hour, finally they called my name, I got weighed, spent some time answering questions on J and my and our family medical history, got poked and prodded and stripped from the waist down (Oh joy!), and then sat on the table with a sheet on me and waited for the doctor to get in. She came in wheeling a monitor and it was time for the ultrasound! Now because of how early I am, it was not really possible to do a normal ultrasound, so I found out just how an internal ultrasound it done! I didn't care though, because right away the little baby showed up on the screen and we got to see it with the little heart beating, and it looked perfect! I was amazed at how clear the image was, it looked teriffic and exactly like the 8-week pics I've seen online before. It was just so incredible to see the little one there, just doing its thing inside my tummy with us all watching! I could see J's excitement just explode as he watched our little baby's heart beating strong and steady. It makes me so happy just to watch his face as he saw the baby for the first time. I know it probably didn't make a huge difference before just because I was the only one feeling any symptoms and he was kind of out of the loop, but yesterday he was right there with me experiencing seeing it for the very first time, and it was wonderful.

You can see the head on the right, it is on its back facing up and the head takes up most of what you can see of the baby! The feet are on the left kind of curled up. The image on the screen was much clearer, and the little heart was just beating away. The doctor measured the baby at 7 weeks, 6 days which was a day ahead of my calculations. So today instead of being 7w6d, I am 8w! We go back again on April 1 for another appointment and hopefully get another picture of our little baby!

Anyways after that most exciting part of the whole appointment, I had to pee in a cup and then we went home. I've been excitedly showing everyone who already knows we're expecting this picture, and we plan to really announce it to everyone else after the April 1st appointment. I can hardly wait! Great, another long wait! I think this one will just drag on and on for the next 5 weeks till I can see baby again!

7 Weeks - Getting Impatient!

Well I am getting super eager for my appointment on the 25th. I think this will be a looooonnnnnng 5 days... Fortunately it's the weekend, time should go by quickly tomorrow, we leave Wednesday night, and then it's smooth sailing till Thursday morning! Right?!? Arggghhh!!!

On another note, I had to get blood taken out again yesterday. Just 2 weeks after the last time. So we went in and got hooked up and just poking the needle in made a bloody mess on and under my arm. That was gross! It was coming out fast, so fast actually that the nurse went out for a few minutes but J called her back in her pretty much immediately after she left, because the bag was full to bursting already! So I got in and out of the hospital within a half hour, a new record. However that wasn't the end of my hospital visit yesterday. We went to pick up something to drink on the drive home, and in the store my head spun and I nearly passed out! J took me back to the hospital room and I laid down for another hour or so, waiting to feel better and for the Dr. to check me over before we went home. He came in munching on a burger for lunch that smelled super tasty, and asked me a couple questions before leaving to finish his lunch and then return to check my reflexes and ears/eyes etc. What a doctor! I am lucky to have him though, he really is the best around and the most comfortable doc to be around. Anyways he asked how far along I was, 6 weeks 6 days, and was disappointed we didn't get to hear the heartbeat while I was in anyways. He said, no matter how awful I was feeling, hearing the heartbeat would have made it all better! It's too bad that will have to wait til another time! Well, here's hoping we will either see or hear this little one next week!

I really hope I don't continue to need blood taken out so often, it's not fun to have the huge needle stuck into my arm again before it's healed from the last time. And I don't think me nearly passing out again can be good for the baby... after that happened, all I wanted to do was sleep and I had a terrible headache! Well, we will see what the next blood test says in 2 more weeks! Until then I know I'll be antsy until Thursday, after which I will probably figure out another day to become impatient for!

5 Weeks, 4 Days - I Made a New Best Friend!

So starting yesterday and getting worse today, I have officially made friends with the toilet. Not for morning sickness reasons, yet at least, but for pee breaks! I wasn't counting yesterday but was sure I went around 10-12 times all day long, and today I've been counting and it has been 6 times in the 6 hours since I got up! I have still been drinking the 2-3 litres of water I'm used to so I am sure it only gets worse from here on out. At least I can sleep through most of the night so far!

I suppose I made another new best friend today: The fridge! I have been very hungry lately! I had breakfast when I was hungry around 11am. A big bowl of Special K Vanilla with a yogurt poured overtop and some nice cold milk. Then J had his lunch break at 1pm, by which time I was hungry again. So I had 2 servings of mac&cheese, felt full, and now it is ten minutes past 2 and I am starving! I literally just finished lunch half an hour ago and I'm planning to raid the fridge again. Hopefully some yummy grapes and a nectarine will do... LOL! Also two nights ago I had my first mild craving: Beef jerky! I wanted some so bad but it was 10pm and no place was open to get some from. So I got it yesterday but the craving wasn't really there anymore. Ah well, I suppose I'll have to try to get my cravings sorted out by 7pm so we can get to the store to get my fix!

All else is going great, I'm getting used to the injections and I don't hesitate and just get the job done, and it doesn't hurt much anymore, not really even burning afterwards unless I move around too much. I still hope to get out of this without morning sickness, but it's pretty early so it could still sneak up on me! Still have slight stomach cramps but it's off and on rather than constantly. And the tiredness has let up a lot after having blood taken out last week. I still can't wait until my appointment on the 25th! Hopefully I'll get to see an ultrasound or hear the heartbeat or something!

5 Weeks Today!

So far, so good! I have to start adding some belly pics soon. Although I'm not starting to show yet, I want to have the 'before' pic along with all the big belly ones! No bruises so far from the shots. That's going better than I had expected. I just poke it in, its so small it doesn't hurt or anything, and slowly press the medicine in while counting to 20 or so. The only time it stings is after pulling the needle out and as the med sets in it burns for a few minutes. But that's not too bad as long as I don't move around too much.

I am looking forward to our first appointment on the 25th! Just under 3 weeks from now. I will be just under 8 weeks along! It is so strange how they figure that out. Today I'm considered 5 weeks, but actually the baby was only conceived about 3 weeks ago. They go by the day I got my last period (Jan 2) so it's 2 weeks tacked onto the beginning of it. Anyways nothing much else new, got a stupid head cold that I can't take much for, so I'm living off Halls, water and blowing my nose all the time. Hopefully everything keeps going as well as it has been!

4 Weeks, 3 Days - Already an Expensive Baby!

So, like the title says, we're just over a month in and already, little baby, you are getting pretty pricey!

Things are going very well. No morning sickness, no cravings, no anything really. Even the cramps and sore boobs are fading. I kind of liked having those because it helped let me know someone was growing in there. Now I've just got to go by my still absent period and sometimes an uncomfortable fullness in my tummy! So much for sleeping on my front. When I've tried to the last week or so it is either too uncomfortable so I turn over, or I actually fall asleep but later wake up on my back! Poor J, I must be tossing and turning all night and he tells me I've been snoring lots lately. At least I haven't been up to pee more than once a night (yet)!

I am switching to injectable blood thinners as of tonight. I will be on Fragmin, once a day til further notice. I am fine with needles so I don't think it will make a difference to inject it myself, we will see how the first one goes tonight.

The thing that hurts worse than the med itself is the cost of the med. Without coverage, it's $1200/month! That makes me feel more sick than the pregnancy so far! Of course, J has 'some' coverage from work. We pay the full cost upfront and get 80% back in 3-4 weeks. But seriously, who has fricking $1200 up front and the time to wait to get back $960, only to drop that plus an extra $240 for the next month again! And then continue doing it until September! Plus his plan has no 'cap' so we would always be paying that extra 20% for as long as I have to take it. This could really be fun. I am sending my application to Pharmacare today and a very nice gal there said she could process it in a day or two for me, but we'd still have to pay whatever the deductible is. I'm not sure how much that will be but I'm assuming that because we made quite a bit last year with J working pipelines, and the year before because we were both working fulltime jobs, it will be a couple thousand on its own. So again, where do we find that couple thousand to pay the damn deductible in the first place??? Well, we will probably get a small loan from the bank. I think that shouldn't be a problem because it's medical necessity. Still though, to go through all of this whwn I'm supposed to start the drugs TODAY, is pretty stressful. And of course, stress isn't good for a little 4 week 3 day old baby growing in my belly.

Well, one way or another, I'll be on that shot tonight. Can't risk letting anything happen to my little bug. Stay tough, little bug! I think you can see how badly Mommy and Daddy want you! Hang in there, it will get easier!

Another new adventure???

Ah yes, the day has come and gone where I was supposed to get my period. Yesterday in fact I should have gotten that visit. But I woke up yesterday and although I had stomach cramps all day long (which I've had for a week or more already, and can't figure out why), it still never came. Woke up today and still, it never came. So J and I figured we'd make a trip to the pharmacy and see if they sell pregnancy tests. They do, but even their 'cheapies' are nearly twice as much as they are in the city, an hour away! Oh well, we picked up 2 and went on our way.

Now I want to describe the last few weeks. It was great at our appointment on Jan 4 when we got the OK to get pregnant. So, we stopped preventing, but weren't particularly trying, either! I found a website that tracks your cycle and gives you the most likely days to conceive. My particular days were the 15,16, and 17th (a Friday, Sat. and Sun.). So we did some 'trying' before those dates, however didn't actually get the job done on those dates except one time on Friday the 15th at night. So... paid close attention to how I was feeling after that, trying to notice any changes that may indicate I was pregnant. Nothing. We didn't 'try' again till the 19&20th. And that's right around when I started getting stomach cramps. Every. Freaking. DAY.

So online I went to see what other women have felt as far as early symptoms go. Turns out cramping is a big one! Who knew? Then a few more days went by and my boobs were really sore and sensitive to everything, and I was picking fights with J for any little reason! Again, more symptoms. I still wanted to wait though until I was 'supposed to' get my period this weekend. So that has come and gone, and here we are. I wanted to wait til tomorrow morning to take the tests, because morning is the best time for it to be accurate. J, however, wanted to try one right away to see what would happen. So I tried one out. It is hard to explain that feeling of being super, super excited but scared at the same time! Finally the one minute was up and I took a peek.

You really can't mistake the 2 lines on them! And this is a cheapie, no-name brand too! So here's to my last day of sanity, let the craziness begin!

We made a few phone calls, J's mom was the first to find out and is pretty excited, although this won't be her first grandchild. My dad was the first on my side to find out and was really excited. We made his day, he said! Mom and my Aunty I could hear screaming in the background while on the phone with J. My sister was excited, then we called my Gramma and let her know too. For the most part though we want to keep it quiet, of course we're only a couple weeks in and have a long way to go what with starting the injections and everything else that goes along with this. I'm looking forward to all of it though. I want to enjoy everything I can.

Now I'm going to be pretty busy here, getting started with that ECE course soon and getting all my new prenatal appointments going, hopefully starting working fulltime in a couple months also, things will be pretty hectic. But I don't think I want it any other way! Look at the proud papa-to-be! (and try to ignore the goofy look on his face, he was doing an 'I'm the man!' kinda thing)

EEEEEK! I am sooooo excited about everything! The due date is apparantly Oct 9, and I am exactly 4 weeks along today (or 2 weeks, from the conception date). 36 weeks to go!

A new adventure?

So I finally got a call from the daycare just to come in for a half day yesterday. It's been a month since the last day I worked there so that was, well, at least better than nothing! Before I went home I went to the office and talked to Tracy (the daycare manager) about that full-time job she mentioned before Christmas. Wondering whether she still wanted to hire someone fulltime and if she was still considering me for it. From the sounds of it she wants to wait until the little guys in the baby room graduate onto the older kid floor (March), and can add the babies on the waiting list to the baby room. More income for the daycare = more funds for hiring another full time person! So I told her I am very interested in the position and when the time comes that I would love to take it!

The only thing is, I have to take the Early Childhood Education course to qualify for this full time job. So I found out more about the course and still need to find out some more, but so far I know that it's a 2-year course that I can take through distance ed and will cost something like $4500 plus book costs for those two years. Not a bad price and I could probably get a student loan and get it paid off quickly, say even $200/mo payments would pay off $2400 in the first year! So I am now waiting for a call from the school and hopefully will know all the details soon. What really helps make up my mind is that without this course I can't get the job I love so much, but with the course I will have a full time 40-hour-a-week job having fun where even when J and I have a kid I will be able to work and be nearby to our child! I think this is a teriffic idea. I know the timing may not be the best as we are actually trying right now to get pregnant, but I wouldn't be the first to have a baby while 'in college'. If you really count distance ed as 'in college'! Either way, I know I am a smart and focused person and would rock that course!