Another Doctor's Visit Update

Today was our long awaited doctor's appointment since almost five weeks ago.  Going into my appointment, I felt confident that everything would turn out fine, but still had a tiny, slight feeling of doubt in the back of my mind.  I've come to the conclusion that because of the previous loss I've experienced, this just may never go away.  Unfortunately a loss takes away the innocence of being pregnant... which goes along with not having 100% trust in my body to do what it needs to do.

Fortunately, my doubt was washed away, yet again, with another great appointment with great news!  After going through my list of questions that most first time moms-to-be have, the doctor did a full exam, including a pelvic check to make sure the uterus felt correct and he also did a Doppler to hear the heartbeat again.  This time, the heartbeat measured exactly at 175 bpm, just as the 3D ultrasound at Miracle in Progress measured!  Looks like baby Kelton likes consistency!

I asked Dr. Juarez if we should feel comfortable sharing the news with our friends and family, and he absolutely agreed we should.  He reassured me one more time that most miscarriages happen from 6-8 weeks, and at 11 weeks after hearing the heartbeat like we did today (a strong one, at that) the chance of miscarriage is extremely slim.  

YAY!  This means we will be starting to share our news with the world.... even though I'm a little nervous to announce at 12 weeks (even though I shouldn't be), I'll be posting to the Facebook world in the next few days to share our news!  Look out for my different announcements (one for work, one for everyone else) to be coming out soon!

Pregnancy + Anxiety = Ultrasound #3

If you know me well enough, you know that I'm a bit of an anxiety-ridden person.  Adding pregnancy to the mix of my already stressed, hormone crazed mind is no help on my 5 week waiting period from my last doctor's appointment to the next.  Because this pregnancy has been pretty symptomless - only slight food aversions here and there, and mostly fatigue that requires a nap everyday after work - I of course assume the worst has happened and that I am, in fact, baby-less.  

To ease my worry, I decided it was in our my best interest to schedule a heartbeat check at a local 3D ultrasound clinic.  Although I didn't need a 3D ultrasound, all I wanted was some reassurance to hear a heartbeat and know there was a growing little bean in my belly!  

So, that's exactly what we did.  We scheduled our ultrasound at Miracle in Progress 3D/4D Ultrasound Studio, located not too far from our house so it was quick and easy.  When we got there, to our surprise, the room was filled with 3 full sized sofas, a huge drop down screen, as well as a twin bed provided for mom to lay on for ultimate comfort during the "show".  It felt kind of funny with just Jason and I in the huge room, alone with just the ultrasound tech!  We got to hear our little bean's heartbeat right away, beating super fast at 175 bpm.  She showed us the heart along with the developed chambers, and we saw that our little blob had developed into a tiny tadpole baby, with arms and legs forming and even toes!  The craziest part of watching the 15 minute ultrasound was watching baby move around and use it's newly found reflexes!  Watching the arms and legs move was so surreal, knowing this little baby inside me was moving around, and not being able to feel a thing!

Our appointment helped me feel totally reassured that everything is A-okay!  Now only a little over two weeks until our next appointment with the doctor.... hopefully we won't be needing to make another trip for more reassurance (just kidding)!  

Here are some pictures from our ultrasound, little baby bean at 9 weeks, 6 days.

Baby's heartbeat at 175 bpm

Baby at the bottom, laying on back, head to the left, legs to the right

Close up of baby laying on back, head on left, tiny foot on right!

Until next time!

May Happenings

In the beginning of the month, my work staff was invited to an informative talk by one of our doctors at Fogo de Chao.  Free food at an amazing Brazilian restaurant?  Why not!  Fogo de Chao is a Brazilian Steakhouse with a yummy salad bar and an unlimited variety of types of meat, such as filet mignon, top sirloin, rib eye, ribs, lamb, chicken and pork.  The waiters come to your table and shave off which meats you prefer, and it was quite tasty!  Most of our staff attended the dinner and was interesting to learn a little bit more about some gastrointestinal disease info that I hadn't known before.

HSC staff at Fogo De Chao

We had the exterior of our house painted!  This was an easy decision for us, because the outside of our house has been extremely dull since we moved in, and quite simply, it looked old and was in bad shape!  Our neighbors had their house painted about 2 weeks before, so we used the same company they did since it looked like they did a good job.  We weren't disappointed!  We were provided with a ton of colors and palettes to choose from, and although it took us a while to decide what we wanted, after seeing the final product, we knew it was exactly what we wanted!  I am in love with my new navy front door, and the company did a great job with the paint, filling the stucco, and even replacing some of our roof tiles that were cracked.  They did not disappoint!

Before/after shot; old and drabby to clean with a pop of color!

We were blessed and found out this amazing news!

My best friend in life, my cousin Chelsea, (who really could be my sister we are that close and alike!) had her baby shower in Vermont!  I was bummed that I couldn't be there to help her celebrate the arrival of her baby boy, but I tried to send some great gifts that I knew she would love to be there in my place!  Her theme for her nursery is sports-oriented, so I tried to play off of that theme for her "made with love" gifts.  I made a snuggly blanket, and also created a onesie gift box.  I find these monthly onesie stickers make the best baby shower gifts and I always seem to give them at every shower I go to!  They are just too fun to document baby's growth, and there are so many designs to choose from on Etsy.  Finally, her shower had everyone bring a book to start baby Everette's collection, and I couldn't choose just one! These are my favorite baby books and I love the cute humor Sandra Boynton creates.  I know baby Everette is going to be loved by so many and Chelsea and Allen are going to make the best parents!  Can't wait to meet this little dude in July!

Baby Everette's blanket

Front of the onesie box

Cute poem from Pinterest for the onesie box 

Classic baby books for Everette

Harley gave me extra snuggles on Mother's Day.  I can't wait to spend the next one with snuggling him AND a 3 month old!

Stacey made another visit into town this month!  We went out to dinner with her and Aaron to China Poblano in the Cosmo, and then met up with our other friends Erin and Jeremy at Nine Fine Irishmen in the New York New York.  The next day, we hung out at the pool at Green Valley Ranch and enjoyed the beginning of the summer heat of Vegas!

That's it for the month of May!  I have a feeling June may be a little bit lazier as we enter the fun part of our first trimester!  Stay tuned!

Ultrasound #2

The morning of our second ultrasound, I felt a complete sense of reassurance that everything was going to go well.  We went through our same routine, arrived at the office, got prepped for the abdominal ultrasound, and again, the sonographer couldn't see anything on the screen.  Come to find out, my bowel almost completely covers the front of my uterus, so that explains why it was so difficult both times to see anything with an abdominal ultrasound.  Again, I emptied my bladder and tried for the transvaginal ultrasound, instead.  Once the sonographer found the correct positioning, we were able to see our growing little bean!  The baby had grown so much in one week, it was no longer a dot on the screen, but had graduated to a tiny blob.  This time, we got to see the heart flicker with more power and advancement, and we heard the sweet, strong sound one more time at 140 beats per minute.  I could listen to that sound for every second of every day and be so, so happy.  It puts my fears at ease to know there really is a baby growing in there!  She also showed us the blood flow with both red and blue on the screen, which was so neat to see.

We moved on to look at the cyst on my ovary, which hadn't grown in size much, but also hadn't gotten much smaller.  The sonographer took lots of pictures again, yet this time, rather than having a follow up appointment immediately after, they scheduled me for another appointment in one more week to meet with the doctor to go over everything.  If seeing and hearing the heartbeat for a second time didn't ease my fears (which it definitely did), the fact that they weren't concerned with me talking to the doctor did ease those fears.  

At our follow up a week later (8 weeks, 3 days), Dr. Juarez reassured us that everything was going exactly the way it should be with baby.  The cyst had shrunk just a tiny bit, and had gone from 3 cm. to 2 1/2 cm.  He explained that this was fine and as long as it doesn't grow and I have no sudden, severe pain, then we should be good!  The best tidbit of info that I got out of our appointment was that most miscarriages happen between 6-8 weeks of early pregnancy... and we were past that point, so although he couldn't guarantee we're in the clear, we're getting pretty close!  I was hoping to hear a heartbeat again with a Doppler at this appointment, but he said it was too early along for that possibility.  We will get the chance to use the Doppler for the first time at my next appointment at the end of the month when I'm a few more weeks along (if I don't cave and buy one from Amazon before then!)

We left feeling extremely optimistic, and I had a new sense of accomplishment to know that we're so much further with this pregnancy than the last!  Although we still aren't in the clear, I know that my chances are so much better this time around and feel confident of making it to January and holding our baby in our arms!  

So, here's our first picture of our baby bean!  Meet baby Kelton at 7 weeks, 4 days!

Baby is laying horizontally on bottom, head is to the left, arm at bottom.  The top circle is the yolk sac, which apparently grows back into the baby in the upcoming weeks!