Mid-Week Update

I haven't posted anything for a while and thought I'd say a few words today. :) I am officially at 9 weeks today.

My next doctor appointment is June 6th. It'll be a checkup and he'll use a doppler to try to hear the baby's heartbeat. I will be 10 weeks 2 days at that point and they should have no troubles hearing it by then. I read that during the 9th week that the little heart grows all 4 chambers and starts to beat with a purpose rather than spuratically. Isn't it amazing?!

How am I feeling? Pretty good actually. Long car rides aren't agreeing with me still but at least the rides in town are ok now. There are some things that I just can't even look at, letalone eat. And some things that I just can't seem to get enough of. I'm pretty tired still. I slept alot over the Memorial Weekend - I think I worried Jason a little bit. I guess I'm being a normal preggo!

I will post next week after the doctor appointment to let you know how it all went. Still keep me & Gertie in your prayers!

1st Ultrasound 5/16/08

Here are our photos from our ultrasound today. Please keep in mind that the quality won't be very good right now since we're still in the first trimester. I don't have a scanner at the house, so I took a picture of the picture. Truthfully, though, it didn't turn out too bad - our originals look just as grainy. lol The arrow is pointing at the baby in the 1st picture.

The nurse updated my estimated due date of 12/31/08 instead of 1/1/09. (Yay!) The little bean is almost 1cm long and is 7 weeks and 2 days old. The heartrate was at 174 bpm and we could see it pumping like crazy. We couldn't hear it but we're pretty early in the game. She said that the doctor will try to hear it at my next appointment on June 6th when I'll be 10 weeks along.

The only thing that she mentioned was that everything is pointing downward right now and that it will be harder for the doctor to hear the heartbeat since the baby is "deeper" inside. There is not one position that is more normal than another and said that we won't have any problems except for maybe not being able to hear the heartbeat with a sonogram. And if that happens, the doctor would just send me back to get another ultrasound done.

Thank you for all of your prayers & care for our baby. Please keep us there!

Mother's Day

I totally forgot to write about Mother's Day from Sunday! Can I blame little Gerty for that?! lol

I had to work this weekend at a jobsite so I couldn't make any plans and didn't really expect anything. But, Jason decided to get me a beautiful card for my first Mother's Day and also gave me a new charm for my charm bracelet - it has a momma & baby inside of a heart. It was soo sweet and I'm so impressed with him for listening to what I wanted.

I had it put onto my bracelet on Monday evening and it sits beside of my wedding band charm that he gave me when we got married. I just really love that he thought of me and the charm is super special to me. What can I say? I love my husband!

So, my first Momma's Day was really nice and I can't complain one bit!

Feeling Pregnant

Well, I'm feeling pregnant now. No ifs, ors,ands, or buts about it. AND I found out that I now get carsick - after driving 550 miles this weekend. No, that is not a common thing for me at all. Even short drives seem to make me ill - almost had to pull over after coming home from the grocery store last night. lol And I was sick this morning after driving to work.

I guess I got what I asked for - more symptoms to put my fears to ease. My cough is almost gone - after 3 whole weeks of it - which I'm grateful. And now, in its place, I have nausiousness. But, at least it keeps my worries at bay. And I'm being able to catch up on some rest that I lost last week with my coughing.

We get to see the little tyke this Friday afternoon. Pretty excited about it. NOT excited to see their scales again-maybe they won't weigh me. I saw on their information booklet that I shouldn't have gained any weight yet - Hmmm, they're wrong! lol Now that Jason is back home & I don't have to travel anymore (Thank God since I get carsick now!), I'm going to start walking on my treadmill again. Nothing strenuous, but some good healthy walking. It may even give me some extra energy that I seem to be lacking now. lol

Anyway, just wanted to post on my blog & give a little update! Thanks for caring!

1st Dr. Visit 5/8/08

Well, I had my first doctor's appt today with Dr. White for a basic first exam. My bloodwork results came back and everything is hunky-dory including my iron. Found out I have O negative blood type which has no effect on me whatsoever. However, if the baby has O positive then my body could essentially try to attack it with antibodies thinking that it is a foreign substance.

BUT, this is a very small number of women who have this problem. Dr. White plans on giving me a shot called Rh immunoglobulin which suppresses the ability to respond to the Rh positive blood cells that the baby MIGHT have. Baby could very likely have Rh negative and there would be no concern whatsoever. Dr. White told me to not be concerned because he hasn't seen a problem with it for several decades because of the administered shot.

I am scheduled for another doctor visit on June 6th. BUT, we get to see the baby next Friday (May 16th) at 2:45pm via the first ultrasound. He wants to check the size of the baby to get an actual due date, make sure there is only one baby, and check the overall health. He told me that everything seemed fine and he didn't suspect twins but figured he'd check just in case.

Overall, I'm happy with the visit. It calmed my fears a little bit hearing the doctor talk about things. The nurse was very reassuring about my fears, too, which was very helpful too. I'm feeling "pregnant" now which helps too. I'm still not nausious but figure that will come with time. I do have a touch of heartburn and I am sooooo tired right now. I ate something the other day that made me sick almost immediately which is a bit odd for me.

And about my cough... he told me that he could prescribe me medicine but he would prefer not to because of his other patient. He said that he's essentially working with 2 patients and only 1 would benefit if I took the medicine. I'm going to try to get through this coughing spell - This too shall pass.....Right??!

So, I guess I'll be able to see the little tike next Friday afternoon! And hopefully I'll feel better by then! I'll post more as my pregnant mind allows to think properly...he, he - like that will happen.

Insurance & Work

I called the insurance company yesterday to tell them of the upcoming family member. They told me that my doctor visits including lab work & ultrasounds are covered at 100%. Thank God!! Any fees occurring at the hospital will be at 80% after my deductible is paid. I'm pretty happy about that!

I've told people at work, but not anybody at our corporate level yet. Everyone locally is very happy for us, but I'm afraid that the ones in Indiana won't be. Maybe I'm making it up in my head, but I think I will be waiting to tell them. That is, if I don't have blabber mouths telling them before I get a chance to.

Continue to pray for a happy & healthy 8 months! As you may already know, my fears are worrying me to death about things that can go wrong between now & December.

Photo Bucket

I have started to put new photos into Photobucket from the wedding. I think you can access via

http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm113/carrieward08/

If not, let me know and I'll figure it out. I have a ton of photos to go through and it's taking me a while to go through them.

Hope you enjoy!

Nurse Appointment 5/2

I went to my first appointment at the doctor's office, but it was with the Nurse Prac. Next Thursday is my first real appointment with Dr. White. Today was just a basic run through of what to expect throughout the next 9 months. They drew blood to check for health, blood type, and the such.

The nurse gave me a 1/1/09 due date, but I don't think thats right. Plus, I told her that I don't want a New Years Baby & that the baby must be born before I'm 30! I'm just confidant that this baby bear wants a 12/30 birhtday (at the bare minimum, a 12/31 birthday but before 1:30pm). Also, an ultrasound will be able to predict a much closer EDD because they'll be able to measure the little bean. So, I'm sticking with 12/30 until after the ultrasound.

I will have a minimum of 3 ultrasounds throughout, but maybe more if the nurse has difficulties finding a heartbeat. She told me that it can be difficult to find the heartbeat during the first trimester. I can have a maximum of 2 people in the room with me during the ultrasounds - any volunteers? lol

She gave me tons of info and books to read and told me that I really couldn't do anything about my cough right now. The first trimester is a critical timeframe and there isn't much I can do other than what I'm already doing. I'm going to ask Dr. White next week if he can think of anything if I'm still not over this cough by then.

Now, I have to call the insurance company and tell them! Please pray for a happy & healthy pregnancy, an easy delivery, and a healthy baby in December!