Monday October 17, 2011 - 17 Weeks

I had my monthly appointment with Dr. Castilla today and everything is going really well! My weight gain has been slow, so I am thrilled with that. I have been pretty careful so I don't gain a lot of weight during this pregnancy.  I look forward to my monthly appointments because I get to hear the baby's heartbeat and it is the most beautiful sound. I am not feeling the baby move as of yet so the sound of the heart beating is so reassuring that everything is just fine. The doctor gave me the referral to get the second trimester ultrasound done with the specialist again. They will check the baby's measurements, vital organs, etc. to make sure that the baby is growing and progressing on schedule. We will hopefully found out the sex of our baby at that appointment too! :) We are so excited to see exactly what we have created. Rich and I don't really have a gender preference. We have tried so long to have a baby and didn't think it would be possible so just the thought of having a healthy baby is perfect enough for us. Whatever gender the baby is will be just as God intended and we are so blessed.

Tomorrow is my 38th birthday and will be my last birthday without my little kiddo. I am looking forward to everything this next year has in store for us. There will be so many milestones and I just want to take the time to really enjoy everything. Time goes by so fast and I want to hold on to all the precious moments in this life, and especially in my baby's life. Here's to a fabulous year ahead and to 38!!

Monday September 26, 2011 - 14 Weeks

We got the call today from the specialist's office that the results of our test were great. Our odds of the baby having Down Syndrome went from 1 in 200 to 1 in 2,700 and the other two Trisomy disorders went to 1 in 5,700. Needless to say, we are thrilled! This is just a huge relief for us. Now we definitely don't need to worry about moving forward with an amniocentesis, thankfully. Our next ultrasound will be in approximately 4 weeks and we will hopefully find out the baby's gender. :)

Almost everyday Rich or I try to read a book to the baby. I am hoping this will stimulate the baby's brain and have him/her be interested in books. We will definitely read to our child every night before bed. I can't wait! I also play classical music for the baby everyday on my ride home from work. Sometimes I play jazz too. It may sound corny but I am completely in love with this baby already and want to expose him/her to everything that I can in this life. I can't wait to take my child to art museums, the library, the zoo, botanical gardens, farmers markets, traveling, etc. I want to show my baby everything.

My stomach is definitely starting to grow and I have outgrown most of my pants and shorts. I have had to move into maternity pants so that I can be comfortable. I didn't think I would have to do that this early but everyone grown differently. We just have 5 1/2 month's to go. It's already going by so fast. I really want to enjoy this pregnancy, especially since I am feeling so much better these days. I am just really tired and love to nap when I can but the nausea is pretty much gone. Rich has been absolutely fabulous, of course I knew he would be. He takes really good care of me and he is so excited to become a daddy. He is going to be the greatest dad. He already loves the baby so much too. This all makes me love him so much more then ever before. I am so lucky and so blessed!

Wednesday September 21, 2011 - 13 weeks

We had our Nuchal Translucency test today at the Perinatologist's office. This test is given to "older" ladies pregnant and establishes statistical data to determine the odds of the baby having Down's Syndrome and other Trisomy disorders. They measure the area on the back of the neck, look for nasal bone formation, and took blood from me. All of this information, along with my age and the baby's gestational age is then put together to determine the odds of the abnormalities. It sounds pretty scary but I am very confidant that the baby is perfectly healthy. It was so amazing to see the baby on the ultrasound today! This was the first time that the baby looked like an actual baby and not a blob or gummy bear! :) The baby was very active and looked like he/she was either doing crunches or had the hiccups. It was so cute! We saw both legs, both arms and I said a private "thank you" to God. It was so surreal and I couldn't help but cry. It was just so exciting! The tech said everything looked great so I left feeling pretty good. We are truly so blessed!

Thursday September 15, 2011 - 12 Weeks

Hooray! I am officially 12 weeks today and I made it to the end of my first trimester!! I am still worried of course, but optimistic, especially now that I have made it through this critical period. Thank you God!! I'm also feeling a lot better these days. I'm not having as much nausea or digestive distress, thankfully! My clothes are tighter and tighter and I don't think I can make the rubber band trick work much longer. The trick is to loop a rubber band through your pants button hole and around your button, thus allowing a little more room in your waist. :) My belly is growing and I'm starting to show so I think maternity pants are in my future pretty soon but it's all worth it. I love being pregnant so far, even with these aches and pains. My baby will be worth all the uncomfortableness and pain!

Monday August 22, 2011 - 9 Weeks

We had our first appointment with our new ObGyn, Dr. Julie Castilla today. Rich and I both really liked her and are happy with our decision to have her as our Ob. She was very nice, caring and compassionate. She seemed genuinely interested in helping me have the best, most healthy and happy pregnancy as possible. Our visit went really well and we had an ultrasound too so she could see how the baby is doing. The baby measured perfectly for the age and the heartbeat was great too. We actually got to hear the heart beat for the first time today. It was so wonderful to hear! The baby was also moving around the feet and hand buds. It was so cute! We were so excited to see all the movement today!

I will now have to check in with Dr. Castilla every month from here forward until I get toward the end then I will go every couple of weeks, and then weekly. Next month I will also go to a specialist to get a Nuchal Translucency ultrasound and blood work to check for birth defects. The NT test checks for thickness in the baby's neck and for the nasal bone to determine if the baby could possibly have down syndrome. The blood work checks for other abnormalities. It is pretty scary to have these tests done but because of my age, it is pretty standard. The doctor also told us about an Amniocentesis and CVS test. Both of these tests check for more abnormalities if the initial tests come back questionable. There is a risk of miscarriage with both of these tests so we have decided that we will not have either one of them done. We will see how the initial tests come back and pray that everything will be just perfect. We don't have a family history of any birth defects in either of our families so we are not terribly worried about it. It is in God's hands at this point and we won't terminate the pregnancy if there is something wrong so we feel it's not worth the risk to test any further.

Since going off of the progesterone, I have been feeling a little better every day. I still have some digestive issues and I'm still pretty exhausted every day but overall I feel much better. I can't wait to make it through the first trimester and start feeling more energized and better all-around!

Tuesday August 16, 2011 - 8 Weeks

I have been so sick with nausea the past week. The last 4 days or so have been the worst. I'm pretty much nauseous all day long now, off and on. I still haven't had to throw up yet but have come very, very close. I try and meditate through it and so far, it has worked. I'm also still pretty bloated and have stomach aches off and on also. It usually happens after I eat. I just hope all of this goes away very soon. I know most of this goes away after the first trimester for most people so I am praying that it will for me! I'm trying to just get through each day as it comes. I'm trying to give my baby the best nutrition that I possibly can but unfortunately, vegetables are generally making me sick, as is chicken, etc. I mostly feel okay when I eat breads, potatoes, etc. I just hope I can eat better food soon!

We have been looking at baby furniture for the nursery. I'm getting so excited! I have a long way to go but it's been fun looking at how we might decorate the nursery. I've also picked up a couple of cute onesies and a cute onesie for Halloween next year. The baby will be 7 month's by then! My friend Margaret gave us a book for the baby called, Love You Forever. It's her favorite children's book. Rich and I read it the night she gave it to us and we cried at how sweet it is. It's a really precious story and it was just so sweet of Margaret to share it with us! I also picked up another book that I saw called, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very bad Day. It's a really cute story too. I can't wait to read to my baby!

Monday August 8, 2011 - 7 Weeks

We had our second ultrasound today and saw our baby's heartbeat!! It was beating at 120 beats per minute so it's right on schedule! It was so exciting to see the little flicker on the screen! I have been praying everyday that we would get to see the heartbeat and I feel so blessed that we actually did! It was so beautiful! I can't believe we could see it already. This became so much more real to us today. We are just so thrilled!

This was our last appointment with Dr. Patel and we have now officially graduated to a regular ObGyn. We have our first appointment with Dr. Julie Castilla in 2 weeks. Although I'm sad to leave Dr. Patel's office, I'm excited to embark on my new journey of pregnancy with my new doctor. Dr. Patel was completely wonderful to us and did everything in his power to get me pregnant and it actually worked! I will miss him but I am very fortunate that I get to leave his practice because that means it was successful! The nurses asked us to bring the baby by and send a picture after he/she comes. I thought that was so sweet! We are now off to our new doctor and the baby's official due date is 3/29/12. Now that we have seen the heartbeat, the chances of a miscarriage has now dropped to 5% so I'm feeling a lot better. I just want to get past the first trimester so I can relax a little more. I'm excited for our first appointment with Dr. Castilla in 2 weeks. We will get to have another ultrasound at that appointment too. I cannot wait!