Transvaginal Ultrasound

My first appointment was at "8 weeks" and wasn't much more than answering a bunch of questions and a glorified pap smear, so it isn't worth a posting about. I did get 7 vials of blood taken so they ran a lot of tests and everything came back looking very good. No diabetes, no hormone problems, and I had all of the immunities I was supposed to have.  But I didn't get to see the baby or learn if everything was okay so that was kind of difficult. They scheduled my ultrasound for the 28th and I just had to wait until then.

Ben and I waited for a while before it was our turn for the ultrasound. I was worried about the probe hurting or being uncomfortable. I tried googling images of what went where exactly and the wand looked pretty big so I went in expecting the worst but it was not that bad at all. Pap smears are was more uncomfortable. And all of a sudden a little tiny baby was on the screen dancing all around. This was actually surprising to me because I knew babies moved and kicked later, but I thought they were pretty chill at this stage of the game. Nope, our little bunny was wiggling all over the place.

According to my last menstrual period my due date should have been 12/24, but I was pretty certain I would get bumped back a few days due to my longer than average cycles. The computer measured the baby from head to butt and came up with a new due date of 12/29. More tests and checkups are on the way but I cannot even describe the sense of relief to see bunny moving around. Oh and the doctor said everything looked great!

Waiting Waiting

Monday April 21st I  got my official positive and started looking up doctors in the area. Luckily my coworker friend, Laura,  recommended a doctor that was very close and covered by our insurance. I made an appointment the next day and found out I had to wait about a month to go to my first appointment. See, the chances of miscarriage is actually really high for those first few weeks. I guess it makes sense for them to make us wait it out at home and not bog the doctor down with appointments that aren't necessary but the waiting to hear that things are okay has by far been the most nerve-wrecking part of this experience.

In the meantime I continued to do at home pregnancy tests every day or two to see if I would have a chemical pregnancy. I never had any bleeding but some of my symptoms would fade in and out and I didn't get nauseous enough to puke so I was afraid something was wrong. This chart might seem kind of morbid, but I actually found it really comforting to see the odds "against" me steadily falling.

The following dates are based on an estimated LMP of March 19th, 2014.

Month	Day	Year

Date	Progress	Overall odds of miscarriage
Wednesday April 9th, 2014	3W, 0D	33%
Thursday April 10th, 2014	3W, 1D	32.9%
Friday April 11th, 2014	3W, 2D	32.6%
Saturday April 12th, 2014	3W, 3D	32%
Sunday April 13th, 2014	3W, 4D	31.3%
Monday April 14th, 2014	3W, 5D	30.3%
Tuesday April 15th, 2014	3W, 6D	29.2%
Wednesday April 16th, 2014	4W, 0D	28%
Thursday April 17th, 2014	4W, 1D	26.6%
Friday April 18th, 2014	4W, 2D	25.2%
Saturday April 19th, 2014	4W, 3D	23.6%
Sunday April 20th, 2014	4W, 4D	22.1%
Monday April 21st, 2014	4W, 5D	20.5%
Tuesday April 22nd, 2014	4W, 6D	18.9%
Wednesday April 23rd, 2014	5W, 0D	17.3%
Thursday April 24th, 2014	5W, 1D	15.8%
Friday April 25th, 2014	5W, 2D	14.4%
Saturday April 26th, 2014	5W, 3D	13%
Sunday April 27th, 2014	5W, 4D	11.7%
Monday April 28th, 2014	5W, 5D	10.5%
Tuesday April 29th, 2014	5W, 6D	9.4%
Wednesday April 30th, 2014	6W, 0D	8.4%
Thursday May 1st, 2014	6W, 1D	7.5%
Friday May 2nd, 2014	6W, 2D	6.6%
Saturday May 3rd, 2014	6W, 3D	5.9%
Sunday May 4th, 2014	6W, 4D	5.3%
Monday May 5th, 2014	6W, 5D	4.7%
Tuesday May 6th, 2014	6W, 6D	4.3%
Wednesday May 7th, 2014	7W, 0D	3.9%
Thursday May 8th, 2014	7W, 1D	3.5%
Friday May 9th, 2014	7W, 2D	3.2%
Saturday May 10th, 2014	7W, 3D	3%
Sunday May 11th, 2014	7W, 4D	2.8%
Monday May 12th, 2014	7W, 5D	2.6%
Tuesday May 13th, 2014	7W, 6D	2.5%
Wednesday May 14th, 2014	8W, 0D	2.4%
Thursday May 15th, 2014	8W, 1D	2.3%
Friday May 16th, 2014	8W, 2D	2.2%
Saturday May 17th, 2014	8W, 3D	2.2%
Sunday May 18th, 2014	8W, 4D	2.1%
Monday May 19th, 2014	8W, 5D	2.1%
Tuesday May 20th, 2014	8W, 6D	2.1%
Wednesday May 21st, 2014	9W, 0D	2.1%
Thursday May 22nd, 2014	9W, 1D	2%

Am I Positive?

I don't think anyone wants to hear this story from the very beginning so let's start with the home pregnancy test. In movies and on TV the pregnancy test seems like a definitive thing. You pee on a stick (POAS) and you're either pregnant or you aren't. Well I had bought a bunch of "internet cheapies" because pregnancy tests are remarkably similar and why pay $20 for a 2 pack if you can get 50 online for $20?

Since I had a ton of pregnancy tests I started testing several days before my period because sometimes one can get a faint positive that early. I had gotten two or three negatives though and was taking one last test before I went out of town for the weekend when a very faint second line appeared. I immediately did another test with the same result but the lines were so faint I could see them but not pick them up on camera. I told Ben what was up and asked him to go to the drugstore for a first response test, which as supposed to be one of the most sensitive tests and better than my internet cheapies. Ben return several minutes later and I use this test, wait three very long minutes, and get..... nothing.

What the heck? I assumed I would get confirmation from the fancy expensive test, and here I knew less than I did before. Later I went to brush my teeth and saw the test still sitting there and there was a pretty solid line. Technically the test was negative within the window of accuracy, however it is much harder to have a false positive than a false negative. Oh well, I had to leave for BART to catch my train so I figured I would eat healthy all weekend and test again when I got home or I would get my period, either way I would know soon.

So yeah, home pregnancy tests are not as simple/easy as they appear at all.