Thankfully, things did go as planned, and I'm pleased to announce...
Baby G, arriving September 21, 2012!
It has been quite hard keeping it a secret these last few months. ;) But now that we heard the heartbeat and actually saw it on ultrasound, plus I am ALMOST in 2nd tri, guess I can finally announce it to my faithful blog readers! I'll tell work and the rest of the fb world on Monday.My journey so far:
4 weeks - Mid Jan, POSITIVE! Took a traditional test plus a digital pg test since Troy wasn't convinced the faint line was actually a real line. ;)
4-5 weeks - Nothing. Hoped I was one of those lucky women without morning sickness.
6-10 weeks - No such luck. Didn't actually throw up but felt queasy ALL THE TIME. Wished I wasn't pregnant. Decided I wasn't having any more children. Complained non-stop to poor hubby. Wanted to die.
7 weeks - Had blood drawn for a bunch of tests. Attended a class at obgyn' office, which was totally dumb and learned nothing.
10 weeks - First appointment with a REAL DOCTOR! Unlike in Singapore where pg ladies apparently get doctor's appointments and ultrasounds every other week (or seems like it, from my fb friends' posts), over here they won't even see you until 10 weeks unless you have complications or are high-risk. Which I guess I am thankful that I'm neither.
Ob-gyn was very nice! Had a physical exam and heard heartbeat of 160!!! RELIEF! She said everything looked good, I am super healthy. Then she said I can pretty much eat whatever the heck I want because I'm so tiny (by American standards, I'm sure), so we went for McDonald's right after the appt. :))
11-12 weeks - Starting to feel better! Just REALLY REALLY hungry. ALL THE TIME. But since the doctor gave the go-ahead.. I haven't really been feeling guilty that I eat 3 meals and about 10 snacks a day. Nom nom nom.
12 weeks - Woke up one morning to ENORMOUS bump. Yikes!!!!! Didn't think I would be showing so soon. Went to Motherhood and bought some nice skinny jeans for $30. Sales lady said I was soooooooo tiny (I am still XS in maternity wear), and I said, are you kidding!!! She comforted me by saying it's because I'm so thin that I'm showing sooner, and it'll eventually even out. Made me feel a bit better.
13 weeks - Optional NT scan for genetic abnormalities. I opted for it only because otherwise I would have to wait till 20 weeks! Yes, prenatal care in the USA apparently consists of only ONE ultrasound at 20 weeks! Ridiculous. By this point I had worried myself into thinking my baby had no skull or was missing an arm or a leg, or that I was carrying multiples, so I really wanted to SEE something.
Again, big RELIEF that everything appeared well. Only ONE baby, thank goodness, and with a skull and everything. (Very worried about baby not having a skull ever since I read about it online) We even got the cute picture above, and two other ones that are not as cute so I won't post them. In fact I think the 3D one looks too gross for words. During the ultrasound, I kept telling Troy and the tech that baby looks like an alien.
I think she said heartbeat was 145, which is normal, and the fold was under 2.5mm, also normal. We'll get the full results next week, hopefully. Then she asked if we wanted to know (absolutely!!!!), and she took a guess of 70-80% sure it's a.... BOY!!!
We both have no preference for boy or girl. I just really want to know so I can start buying some too-darn-cute clothes!!! Of course, it's still a guess at this point, won't know for sure until the big ultrasound at 20 weeks. But I'm thrilled!!!!! Slightly disappointed that I can't buy cute girl dresses, good thing they also have lots of cute boy stuff these days. In any case, I'm going to stay mostly gender-neutral for the big things like stroller, crib, etc. for future recycling.
Although I feel a lot better now that I've seen baby, still plagued by worry every now and then. Doesn't help that I work in an environment where I'm reminded daily of all the things that could possibly go wrong with my child. Guess this is pretty typical feelings of first time parents? *Praying for a healthy baby!*
