August 29th: 9(ish) weeks

Written 8/29/11: 9.5 weeks pregnant

Dear E,

I haven’t taken any belly shots yet this week, because a) there is never a moment where I don’t look like complete crap and b) I’ve been too busy puking, and trying not to puke, to remember such things! I promise to suck it up and take one sometime soon. Despite the fact that I’ve actually lost weight since becoming pregnant, the belly continues to grow and expand at a somewhat alarming rate!

Anyway, I had an appointment on Friday (my first “official” prenatal appointment with the Midwife at my doctor’s office), and an ultrasound and meeting with my doctor this morning.

Friday’s appointment was pretty boring. It was basically to go over all the do’s and don’ts (mainly dont’s!) during pregnancy, take even more of my blood, and as an extra fun surprise, I also got a pap smear! It was funny–during the exam “down there,” the Midwife said, “your uterus feels very full.” Since I freak out about everything these days, I said with alarm, “is that okay??” She laughed and said, “yes, it’s full…of baby!”

I also had to fill out all sorts of paperwork and go over my medical history and all of that. This might sound strange, but I really loved the fact that I got to include Stevie’s birth information on so many different forms. Writing down that I birthed a baby who weighed 1 pound, 13 ounces, who was 13.5 inches long, made me feel like a mom. Like she was really real. That she’s a part of my history. That she matters.

After Friday’s appointment, I spent most of the weekend at Grandma and Grandpa’s house while Dad was working. It was really nice to be babied by my mom (she went as far as removing the skins from french fry wedges when I wanted a baked potato and those were the closest she had!), and watching stupid crap on TV like “The Millionaire Matchmaker.”

Then it was time for today’s ultrasound appointment. Of course I was nervous as hell beforehand. I mean, I seriously go into these things with dread, not excitement. But thankfully, everything looked great once again! You are looking so much more like an actual baby. It’s really mind-blowingly amazing to watch you grow and develop from week to week. The only word I can think of to describe it is miraculous. Simply unreal.

Your big head is much more defined now, and your cute little arm and leg bus were jerking and twitching all over the place.

Here are a few pictures:

I can't get over those cute little foot nubs!

Your little heart was going crazy fast at 188bpm (up from 158 2 weeks ago!)

After the ultrasound, I met with my doctor to sort of finalize our “game plan” moving forward. She is having me finish up my last package of progesterone suppositories (I think I have about 10 days left), and then I will be starting once-a-day Lovenox injections immediately after. She doesn’t want me on both the suppositories and Lovenox at the same time since both can cause spotting and she knows that will only cause me to panic (and she’s so right!)

She is also referring me to a Perinatologist (high risk OB) who I will meet with in 4-5 weeks. The Peri will come up with a plan for doppler blood flow studies (basically, monitoring the blood flow in the cord) and some level 2 ultrasounds going forward. It sounds like I’ll be working with both the Peri and my regular doctor quite regularly. The nice thing is that the Peri’s office is in the same building as my regular OB’s office, so I won’t be driving all over the place for all these different appointments.

My next ultrasound and appointment is scheduled for September 16th, when I’ll be right around 12 weeks.

Can’t wait to see you again, Baby!

Love you more and more each day,

Mom