Friday, October 26, 2012

19 weeks and 6 days

So I realized I never updated from my last appt (17 week appt)! oops! The appt was quick and everything was great. The Dr. checked my cervix and it was closed, fundus was where it should be and the heartbeat sounded great on doppler. I was hoping for an ultrasound because I had spotted/bled for so long after the last big bleed at nearly 14 weeks. It had stopped of course the day before the appt. We are still doing the magnesium supplements.

Next appt is in 1 week, it should have been this week but their office was closed all week. I will get an ultrasound at this appt, it is one of the bigger ultrasounds because they do an antaomy scan so it will be so nice to get a good long look at baby and confirm if it's a boy!! :) Sadly my husband can't go with me to the appt due to work, he has to go out of town :( I was hoping to record the ultrasound again for all my family in the states, but oh well! My mom tried to convince me to take my husband's giant tripod with me to the Dr's office! She's crazy (in a good way).

I can't believe that tomorrow I will be at the halfway mark! One of my many milestones that I never thought I would reach! Sometimes it is so sureal looking back and remembering how hopeless I felt sometimes that this pregnancy would ever truly make it. I feel much much better about the hematoma itself now, but my fears now stem from the fear of going into labor early. I already had higher than normal risk of going into labor early because of going into labor with my son at 32 weeks, even though they stopped it. Now that I have had the hematoma that increases my risks as well. I try not to worry because it's not healthy for me or the baby, but  I know the risks and the complications. My next milestone is 24 weeks which is considered "viability". It's the point at which Dr's will try to stop labor and if the baby is born early it will still have a chance of survival. I thank God every day for another day to love this little one and can't wait until the day I hold the baby in my arms, healthy and happy!
 

 a little video of the crazy little one rolling and kicking in my belly!
 

Thursday, October 4, 2012

15-16 week musings


9/24/12

(15 weeks and 2 days)I have decided to go back on the Zofran here and there if not every day. The nausea and vomiting is just too intolerable. I’m hoping if I can try to not take it every day I will not get as constipated as last time. I have been very depressed this past week and I know a lot of it stems from the poor quality of life I’m currently experiencing being stuck in bed and puking all the time. Also I’m going to have to be more active at least the next two weeks because my husband is working days again which means I will have to drop my son off for school every morning and pick him up from the bus stop (which is a couple blocks to walk to), make dinner, and bring my son to soccer practice on Mondays and Wednesdays. Before my dear hubby was doing literally everything, I haven’t been cooking, cleaning or doing anything except bringing my son to school in the mornings and doing anything I can when I’m not nauseous or bleeding. I am hoping that this isn’t going to be too much activity and will cause another bleed (even though I’m still spotting). I am going to have to remind myself to rest during the day, but it’s difficult because all I want to do is break the chains of being confined to bed.

 

 

10/4/12

16 weeks and 5 days
It’s been 3 weeks since my big bleed. I’m still spotting which is just annoying, but I’m feeling really good! The nausea and vomiting has finally subsided! Thank the lord! I usually get sick once or twice a day, usually in the morning and not every day. I've been taking the zofran only every once in awhile and my digestion has seemed to normalize besides being hungry a lot and craving pickles so much I have resorted to drinking the pickle juice. Such a relief to not be as sick! I have been being relatively active, although I am still taking it easy and spend a few hours in bed in the mornings after taking my son to school and doing some chores. I am just feeling so good I wanted to jot it down and remember it! I have started to feel small baby movements, which is exciting. I thought I had been feeling them, but it’s hard to differentiate between baby and my crazy digestive system! Now I'm sure it's baby. My belly is getting bigger too and there are only 2 pairs of normal pants I can wear now, shirts are getting too short, let’s not even talk about bras! I’ve added almost 2 inches to both my belly and my bust! I don’t think I look pregnant to strangers or people who don’t know though. I of course feel huge. I think I’ve finally gained some lbs back, but we don’t have a scale so I will have to wait until Tuesday for my appointment. I’m hoping Dr. H will do an ultrasound to check for the hematoma since I have still been spotting, but I don’t think he will. Five more days till my appointment.

Scary bleed 13 weeks


9/17/12

We had another serious bleeding scare today (13 weeks and 2 days), probably the scariest one yet. I was eating lunch when I felt a gush. I ran to the bathroom and was just dripping blood like a facet. (sorry told ya I don’t hold back). It was bad enough that it freaked hubby out quite a bit, he was in the bathroom and witnessed it. Due to the large amount of blood I lost/was losing and a large size gallball-baseball size clot (my first clot) we went and got checked out by Dr.H.  The baby looked great, was active and his heartrate was perfect. Dr. H could not find the source of the bleeding. He has put me on some magnesium (oxide-a dietary supplement) to keep the uterus relaxed and I am back on bed rest. Yipee! :( The placenta looked good and does not seem to be covering the cervix, which can sometimes cause bleeding like this. Sometimes these hematomas can "hide" and can't be seen on the ultrasound. There are other causes for bleeding, but it doesn't seem to be any of them. Sometimes women bleed and they don't know why. So the most important thing for me to do is rest since blood is an irritant to the uterus... Either way knowing the why of the bleeding isn’t really important in a way because it doesn’t change the treatment. I have also been having a rough time with the vomiting and vomited a tiny bit of blood last night. Sometimes this happens with ladies with hyperemesis (excessive puking) and it's just another thing to keep an eye on. (It comes from the esophagus becoming irritated by the acids). My next appt is october 9th.

13 weeks


9/11/12

I’ve had a little bit of spotting here and there, but no major bleeding. We had our 13 week appt today and got to see lots of baby because they checked the baby's anatomy. We got to do our first abdominal ultrasound, which felt silly because I just didn’t feel big enough for it to show really well, but it did! The baby was still very active and we took a few short videos which I put on youtube. http://youtu.be/jMtzwTi6kQI
You can see a profile now because the bones are all hardening, including the nasal bones. We also found out that the baby is probably a boy!! I have been thinking it was a boy and everyone kept saying girl! We don't mind another boy and didn't really have a preference. My son was very adamant in the beginning that it be a girl, but we have been telling him for awhile that it might be a boy so when we told him today he was ok with it, I think he was excited just to know what to expect! Of course when I asked him what were we going to name the baby now he said "Crystal" when I told him that that is more of a girl's name he said with attitude: "fine, Fancy Crystal" LOL!! Not sure where he comes up with these, of course he does love crystals! The baby looks perfect as usual and the hematoma appears to be completely gone. Great news, but I know they can come back and or hide so I am not holding my breath! Also just last friday and into the weekend I had a very mild bleeding episode, so It makes me think it may still be there. Sometimes they can hide behind the placenta. I am still having really bad morning sickness, but I took myself off the zofran because it didn't seem to be helping and it was making me severely constipated. I still haven’t gained any weight and have lost a total of 8-10lbs since being pregnant (I didn’t really need to lose any weight). I have also been having some back, hip and knee pain on one side, I'm not sure if it's the sciatica or not.... The joys of being pregnant.
 profile


hand near the face


 

more bleeding @ 11 weeks


8/28/12

Another bleeding episode (11 weeks and 4 days), which means I went to see Dr. H today. Baby looks fabulous, and is one ACTIVE lil bean!! Like whoa active, makes me nervous! LOL I guess when you are a fighter ya gotta do karate in the womb! (according to my son anyways!) Hematoma is even smaller than last week praise the lord! Dr. H says I don't need to come in when I bleed now unless it's a major bleed or major cramping. Wahoo. Also still discontinuing the progesterone, he says after 11/12 weeks it doesn't really benefit the bleeding. There are mixed opinions on that, but I would actually rather be off it anyways. Baby's heartbeat was great. Nausea and puking is still present and kicking my butt. That's about it. Next appt is sept 11th.

(After this visit I announced on fb that I was preggo. I was feeling very positive that the hematoma was disappearing, the baby was well and very active which Dr. H assured me was a very reassuring sign. Everyone was full of congrats and very happy for us. I left out that I have complications, it is just too personal and too hard to explain in a short sentence everything that is occurring. I came to terms with the fact that if this baby doesn’t make it, then I will be ok. That I can tell people to please not to tell me they’re sorry and what not if that is what I am feeling. There was a song that one of the ladies posted on my support board that a Christian father wrote for his son who was born with a genetic heart disorder called hypoplastic left heart. The song is about how he will give his everything and all his love to his son no matter what the Dr’s said. The song really says everything I have been feeling. The song is called “all of me” by Matt Hammitt and here is the link for youtube: http://youtu.be/KnlT5FV6Jwg )

10 weeks


8/21/12

Today's appt went really well! I am 10 weeks and a couple days. Hematoma is almost gone! There is a small portion near the top, but it is grey which means it is in the healing process. Baby measured right on target and nucal test came back normal. Dr. H said the heartbeat was fast, strong and perfect, he said everything looked perfect. He was very happy the hematoma was nearly gone. The baby was moving like crazy, arms, legs and head were going every which way, popping like popcorn in there! My son thought it was funny and the baby looked like it was doing karate. (heaven help me!) Dr. H said to take the progesterone for only one more week and then stop it. I'm hoping that will help decrease my nausea and vomiting! I'm taking the zofran twice a day and still puking most days. Dr. H said there really isn't anything else I can do for the nausea, but hopefully it will decrease in the next few weeks as I get to the third month. I also seem to not poop anymore and am having to take the milk of mag every 5-6 days in order to go # 2. Constipation is very painful by the way if you have never experienced it! Next appt isn't for three weeks.

 

8 weeks


8/10/12 I need to jot down what happened at my last Dr’s appt, but I’m not going to. I’m venting. I’m tired. Physically and emotionally. My house has dust bunny’s and needs a good dusting/vacuuming, and I leave a trail of half empty water glasses and food where ever I go. I have been puking 2-5 times a day and my stomach has been in constant pain since last night. I had difficulty sleeping from it. It feels like rocks are trying to move through my belly. All I can do is lie in bed and barely feed myself. I hate this.

A little pooch
 

8/15/12 Not sure if that last entry will make it to the blog simply because it is depressing. But it is real, and it was what I was feeling. Last week’s appt on 8/7/12 (8 weeks) went good. I mean the news wasn’t the greatest, but I still left feeling renewed because I had seen my little peanut, I got to see it move it’s head and an arm! It’s so funny how I’ve seen the baby grow from a little dot to now having arms and legs! It sounds queer to say all excited “my baby has appendages now!”

 
At the appt I got to see Dr. H which was nice because I hadn’t seen him since week 5!  We spent a few minutes in his office catching up on everything that had happened since week 5 and then went in for the ultrasound. At the time it had only been a few days since my last bleed, so of course the first thing we saw was the hematoma. It was pooled above my cervix and under the baby, then all the way up the side of the baby and a little over the top. I don’t think he could have measured the length, it was long and the hematoma was almost the size of the whole gestational sac. At it’s widest it measure 1.3X1.8 cm. But the size isn’t supposed to matter, it’s supposed to be the location. So naturally I asked if it was behind the placenta (the worst case scenario because it can, can (not will), lead to loss of the baby from lack of blood supply or the placenta being torn away from the uterus). Dr. H said yes it was behind the placenta, but when I looked at the sonogram it seems like the placenta is in the upper right and the hematoma in the upper left. But I’m not a sonographer and I know it can be very hard to distinguish at this early stage where it is located without using the blood flow thingy, which he didn’t use. The baby measured perfect almost to the day and as I mentioned before. It moved it’s over proportioned head and it’s little arm. The heartbeat was 155 bpm. Dr. H decided to decrease my progesterone to just at night because it was making me very loopy and dizzy during the day. I had also lost more weight. Initially they had talked about seeing me every week, but since my bleeding episodes only seemed to last a few hours the last 2 times he decided to just see me in 2 weeks like he normally would at 10 weeks.
In the days that followed the appt I was absolutely miserable. All I could manage to do was lie in bed all day, puking 2-3 times a day, barely eating, nauseous all day, stomach pains all day. And then I got constipated for 6 days. Finally I couldn’t take anymore and broke down and went to the clinic onbase. I really didn’t know if I needed to go there or to Dr. H’s, but I figured I would have more luck getting the Zofran onbase. They gave me a prescription and recommended milk of magnesia to help unclog things. I ended up giving myself diarrhea and puking with the milk of mag, but it did work! The Zofran helps a lot and I am feeling better. Still not myself and my stomach is absolutely insane! I have a loud stomach anyways, but now it’s just crazy loud!! I still am having some pains in my stomach, but I’m hoping they will slowly dissipate in the next few weeks as I near the 12 week mark and get out of the first trimester. I’m still kind of undecided about whether to tell the entire world about being preggo at week 12. It’s like on the one hand it gives me freedom to say what I want on my fb page, but then at the same time if I lose the baby it’s that many people I have to tell, then many sorry’s I have to face. My mom tried to make it positive and say it would be tremendous support and though it would be, I think it would also be very difficult. But then do I really wait until viability at 24 weeks to tell everyone? It feels kind of betraying in a way. I’m so excited and want to share my news with everyone, but it scares me. For now I’m just telling myself that there are 2 more sonograms until I decide what to do and hopefully it will show the clot absorbing. Our next sonogram is less than a week away and I just can’t wait. I thought about asking Dr. H if we can make a small video of the sonogram once we see everything is ok with baby. I’m just not sure if I want to, again the fears of what ifs. Maybe it would be something I would cherish if something does happen instead of a negative thing.
 

8/6/12 (6-7 weeks)


8/6/12 I have been feeling so crappy that I haven’t had time to jot down these entries. I have had more bleeding, another visit to the ER, another OB Dr.s appt. and my gallbladder appt. since the last entry. My gallbladder and surrounding organs look fine and they are chalking up the digestive issues to hormones. My visit to the ER was a week and a half ago. I was 6 weeks and I think 4 or 5 days, on July 25th. My husband and I were getting ready for bed and I felt like I had some really awful gas pains in my belly. As I was lying in bed reading I felt a sudden gush. I was terrified and hurried to the bathroom to discover that I was indeed bleeding like I feared. As I was dripping blood (TMI sorry) all I could think was that it was over, that I was losing the baby. I told hubby that I was bleeding and thought I was having a miscarriage. (Being overseas you have to call Tricare anytime you go to the hospital for paperwork and coverage reasons.) So it was about a half an hour before we finally left for the ER. They told us that we couldn’t go to St. Elizabeth’s where Dr. H (my Dr.) works, but that we had to go to the Schwetzigen hospital. One of my husband’s co-workers came over to watch our 5 year old son while he was asleep since it was 9:30 at night. When we got to the hospital we checked in at the ER and they sent us up to the OB/GYN floor where the DR met us. She was very young, but very nice. She did a pelvic exam and a sonogram and said things didn’t look good. She said the gestational sac looked abnormal (not perfectly circular) and she couldn’t see a heartbeat (at 6 weeks sometimes a heartbeat is not seen and things are fine). My husband and I thought we could see the heartbeat, but we are no Dr’s! She took some blood to run some tests and decided to keep me overnight for observation. She was convinced as I was that I was miscarrying. She even went over the D & C procedure with me, had me sign the consent in case things started getting worse. She also gave me a progesterone suppository for good measure. The plan was to do a repeat ultrasound in the morning and look for a heartbeat. I hardly slept at all that night. I had to share a room with an old German lady. It was not fun and I will spare you the gross details. At 7:45 the next morning they came and took me for the sonogram. My husband had not made it to the hospital yet. My bleeding had stopped during the night. They were using a more advanced machine on me and a sonogram tech instead of last night's Dr. Immediately the little shrimp showed on the screen with a heartbeat! I was so shocked and stunned. Happy of course! The tech said everything looks great, have a great pregnancy! So I left feeling relieved even though I had no idea and no answer as o what the bleeding was from.

Fast forward a week and on august 3rd at 7 weeks and 6 days I took my son to school that morning and felt some lower stomach pains. Nothing unusual for me at this point! By the time I got home I was definitely cramping and went straight to the bathroom to discover that I had bled through my underwear and shorts. Not again! I was so worried because this time I was having cramping and last time I did not. Since it was daytime hours I called the OB office and they squeezed me in right away. Thank goodness. My husband was home and went with me since he was on nights for work, he said I seemed much more worried while we waiting this time. I was. Went back for the sonogram and immediately we saw a little bean with a beautiful heartbeat! This time you could even see the 4 chambers of the heart pumping. One of the best sights you can ever see. The Dr. (not Dr. H) poked around for a while and said “aha, a blood clot”. My heart sank. From the research I had done about my unexplained bleeding I knew it meant a hematoma. And her next words were “you have a hematoma”. She explained to us that it’s not good news and it’s not bad news. She went on to say that if the pregnancy was meant to be I could trip and fall, bungee jump and the pregnancy would stay. But if it’s not meant to be then there is nothing to do to prevent a spontaneous abortion. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the baby, it will not be deformed or have brain damage from this, there will be no ill effects from the hematoma if the body naturally absorbs it like it should. So she put me on progesterone to keep the uterus relaxed and hormones up and we are going to do weekly appointments until things seem to be resolving or we have a better idea of what is going to happen. To better explain a hematoma it is basically a blood clot or hemorrhage in the uterine wall. It can be between the placenta and the uterus, it can be on the edge of the placenta, or it can be just affecting the uterus and not be touching the placenta. This poses a risk to the growing baby because blood irritates the uterus and causes it to cramp down, so this is one of the reasons why it can lead to a miscarriage. It can also cause the placenta to tear away from the uterus either a little or completely. If it is early and partial, the placenta usually fixes itself, if it is later in the pregnancy it can cause preterm labor or placenta abruption. This condition is said to only affect about 1.7% of pregnancies according to one study. However it is one of those conditions they just don’t know that much about, there is very little research and variety to the treatment. There is also a 30% chance of premature birth with this condition. I am already at a higher than normal risk for premature birth,this because of my PCOS and because with my son I went into labor the first time at 32 weeks. Luckily they stopped it and I went on to carry him until 37 weeks and 5 days which is considered full term. So now I am stuck in a wait and see situation. I joined an online support group for hematomas and I am hoping that the clot/bleed resolves on its own because after reading several women’s stories, this may not be the end to my scary bleeding episodes. Most resolve by about 20 weeks, and the earlier it is detected the better your odds are. However it’s still scary. Some women have needed blood transfusions from the amount of blood lost, many have large blood clots and some bleed their entire pregnancy. There is also an increased risk of hemmorhage after delivery. I have been on the progesterone for 4 days now, and it sucks so bad, I hate it. It makes me very dizzy, light headed and tired. I feel like a zombie. My stomach issues just won’t seem to go away, my intestines are always causing me pain. But at least I have what I would consider a normal pregnancy as far as morning sickness goes and not the hyperemesis I had with my son. But the stomach pains are just so awful, and seem to be 24/7. And then of course if I’m too active my uterus gets achy. So I’ve been pretty bed bound. I was so hoping this pregnancy wouldn’t lay me up in bed, and it would be “normal”. Guess not! I also feel constantly hungry like there is a hole being burned into my stomach.

Ok enough griping. Tomorrow is another appt. I’m hoping they can tell me a little more info about the clot since I now know more about them. I want to know where it’s located and how big it is. I’m also hoping they will give me a sonogram picture since the only one I have is the dot picture from 5 weeks. Or I will ask them if I can take a picture with my ipod. Initially before finding out about the hematoma I had planned on asking to make a little video if we saw the heartbeat first. Now I’m scared to. I’m scared that if this baby doesn’t make it I will have this sad reminder. I feel like a lot of my joy has been taken away from me and been replaced with hesitation, doubt and fear. I’m scared to take the tags of the maternity clothes I bought; I’m scared to buy anything. I’m scared to even tell anyone I’m pregnant! This is hard for me because I’m such an open book kind of person. So for now I pray. I visualize the clot disappearing. I am a part of a support group for women with hematomas. I lay around feeling miserable hoping that it will all turn out the way it is supposed to. This baby is loved plenty here on Earth which is where I want it to be, but should it go to heaven and become one of God’s beautiful angels I know that my grandma, grandpa and cousins will be there with open arms to welcome this angel and will love this baby just as much as we would….

Introduction and finding out (July)


I wasn’t sure if I would ever put this out there for everyone to read, but I felt like it was important to jot down everything I was going through. Initially it helps to jot it down since I didn’t tell too many people I was pregnant in the beginning, then I realized that maybe this baby will read it one day and realize what a miracle they are and how much mommy went through. Early in my pregnancy I was diagnosed with a subchorionic hematoma, there is so little known about hematomas and when I was diagnosed I just wanted to read other people’s stories of what they had been through and what I might need to expect, so I hope that my story will help with other people going through a pregnancy with a hematoma. I will explain in the blog what this condition is and what the implications are, if you want more information please visit: http://community.babycenter.com/post/a27372249/sch_faq

I also wanted to create this blog separate from my other one because I have some friends and family that may not want to hear every little detail about my pregnancy.  And there are other people (like myself) who want to know every detail no matter how minute! Be forewarned that I am not a modest person, also I am in the medical field so talking about poop, blood and other things that are nasty to some are just normal to me. I don’t go into full detail of these things, but I do mention them when they come up. I’ve kept it the way I wrote it, which is kind of like a journal with the date at the top and how far along I was.

 

So let’s back track a little shall we? Let’s start with how I found out… First off I had only been in Germany reunited with my husband and 5 year old son for a few weeks and we decided to go on a castle hopping adventure and to see LEGOland for the 4th of july. Well we barely left because my stomach was acting up. I was having a lot of pain and bathroom trips that were making it hard to depart on our adventure, I thought that my gallbladder or appendix was exploding, but the pain and bathroom trips subsided and we were able to leave.

Well my whole life I have a horrible stomach, but this pain was new, so after a week or so after our adventure it had lessened, but was still there, so I made an appt. in family practice. (on a side note during out trip I thought I had my period, gross but important detail). During my appt a week and a half later the Dr thought maybe gallbladder, unfortunately with stomach pain it can be any number of things. Upon palpation of my upper abdomen bringing tears to my eyes he decided to order various blood and urine tests to help rule out liver and kidneys issues. He said we might do a sonogram depending on the labs and that he would call me that day as the labs results slowly started to trickle in.

About 2 hours later Dr. F. call and the first thing he asks me is “Was you previous pregnancy normal?” “uuhhh yea”

“No complications at all?”

“uuumm, no”

“And when was the last time you were pregnant?”

“five years ago. Why? Did the test come back positive?”

“yes, and these are highly sensitive tests.”

I went on to ask him about the fact that I thought I was currently getting over my period as we spoke, coupled with my abdominal pain he seemed concerned, but told me to go to the emergency room if my pain got worst, otherwise he was putting in an emergency referral to be seen downtown by an OB and the referral should take 24 hours. Once I hung up the phone my first thought was “oh shit!” My husband and I had not been using protection, however it took nearly 2 years to get pregnant with my son due to my PCOS, we were initially told we would have to use IVF and additionally I had only been reunited with my husband for 3 flipping weeks! I went to my husband crying and just blurted out “I’m F!@#ing pregnant” I was totally shocked and very concerned because bleeding is never good with pregnancy, at least that’s what we are told. I thought for sure and told hubby that I thought I was having a miscarriage. Then I went into the bathroom and took a test I had. It was a faint line, but a line none the less. I don’t know what it is with us ladies, but we need to see it to believe it I guess.

A couple hours later I got a call from a lady who identified herself as the Liason officer. She had spoken with my nurse who had spoken with my Dr and they were all concerned that I was having an ectopic pregnancy. So they advised me to go to one of the OB ER’s. So we packed some stuff for our son and got some food and off we went. The amazing thing about Germany is that they have ER’s/clinics just for preggos, so it’s nice to not be with a bunch of sick people. Once we got there they took my urine and decided to do an ultrasound.

*Please remember I am quite blunt and I say it like it is, so if you are grossed out easy, stick to my facebook page or e-mails!*

Of course this early the ultrasound is vaginal. The scan didn’t show anything which wasn’t surprising because I was only 4 weeks, but there was nothing to be seen in my tubes, which was good. The German Dr. was very nice and didn’t seem concerned about the bleeding, he said it was very minimal and that it is actually quite common early on. He said that once I got my referral I could come see him in his office. He also ordered HCG (the pregnancy hormone) levels to be done and said we would repeat them in a couple days after getting my referral. At this point we hadn’t told my son anything besides mommy is having tummy problems. Being the smart little boy he is when we were part of the way through the visit he got really close to me face to face and asked me in the most serious voice: “mommy do you have a baby in your belly?” I was totally caught off guard, but being that we are so honest with him and he would know if something was going on I told him that we didn’t really know and that’s why were there.

After leaving I ended up doing a ton of research about bleeding because I never had it with my son, I knew other women who had experienced it, but I always heard it being lighter than a period and I had what I thought was a normal period except no cramping. Apparently it is quite common for women! Some women bleed around the time of their period their whole pregnancy, and as it turns out there are several ladies I already knew who bled when they were pregnant without any complications! But I was still very nervous.
While I waited for the referral I took a test each day looking for a darker line indicating rising HCG

The bleeding stopped shortly after my visit to the ER (9 days total)and my referral ended up taking 3 days instead of 24 hours. So by the time I went back to Dr. H’s office I was 5 weeks and 2days. He gave me my HCG level which was 326, which was normal for 4 weeks and we did another ultrasound. Luckily we got to see a gestational sac, which measured 5 weeks and 3 days, and it was in the uterus where it was supposed to be, so we are right on track! From the research I did you can only see something on ultrasound once the HCG levels reach 2,000, so they had risen quite a bit as they should. I was so relieved to see our little baby dot! Dr. H said that things were developing just as they should and I asked him if I could breathe now. He said yes, but next we need to see the heartbeat (which I already knew). So we scheduled our next apt for 3 weeks later (8weeks along) and we should be able to see the heartbeat and a little peanut next time!
 
 our first view of our growing baby! Just a dot @ 5 weeks!
(I am 6 weeks and 1 day right now as I’m writing this {I think the date was 7/23/12}) I absolutely cannot wait!! It’s like the next step to relief… Dr. H said they will do and ultrasounds @ 8 weeks, then 10, then 12, then 20, then 30. We have told our close family and my bff, but it is so hard keeping it secret! I’m the worlds worst liar and I cannot keep my own secrets, I suffer from diarrhea of the  mouth. As of now I have been feeling surprisingly well as far as the nausea goes. With my son I had hyperemesis so I was already quite ill at this point. So far my biggest symptoms have been exhaustion (so bad I don’t even wanna sew or do anything), supersonic sniffer, and booboulders a.k.a. breast tenderness and enlargement. I am hoping to continue on the path at this rate! I really don’t want to experience the nasty nausea. A little bit is tolerable, which I’ve had, but that is all I will allow!!

On a side note I have an ultrasound scheduled for what they think is gallstones on July 31st, and an appt the day after to review it with my doctor. We shall see what it says. I’ve also read that most GI issues go away or subside during pregnancy (including IBS and gallbladder issues). If it is gallstones we will wait until after the baby is born to remove the gallbladder unless it becomes very bad. As of right now, the pain has gone away and all I have had is a sensation of fullness in my upper right abdomen in the mornings. I’m kind of hoping that they will take a look at the baby during the abdominal ultrasound, but they probably wont. I just can’t wait to see that little heartbeat!