19 weeks and 4 days - with bonus ultrasound :)

One thing I didn't expect. The suspicious that my due date might be a day out because none of us considered the leap year . . .

In other news, all is going well. I'm increasingly tired, but that's partly because I have a very heavy workload at work at the moment. I have moments of dizziness and racing heart, but nothing too bad. The heartburn and gas on the other hand . . . (seriously, I had a days worth of gas after eating an apple!)

Yesterday afternoon I went back to the Royal Women's Hospital for my ultrasound. Traffic was going my way, so I got in early and tried yet another doubtful product from their food place. An hour before the ultrasound, I went to the toilet, and then went about drinking a litre of water. About 25 minutes later, I made my way up to the Medical Imaging department.

You go into the main reception and hand over your form and then they send you on, depending on what you're there for. I was sent to the Women's waiting room, which was actually quite lovely - they had obviously put some thought into the decor in there. It was mostly baby related, though it's also the area for breast scans and gynecological scans. I'd been sitting there for abut five minutes, when they came to get me - half an hour early! Unfortunately M. hadn't made it from work yet, so I asked if we could just wait a bit, which was fine. Just after he arrived, they called me again, so we were able to go in.

The lady doing the scan was a trainee, but she was really good. We said we'd had a couple of issues with the heart beat last time, so she tried to get straight in there. Unfortunately we have a real squirmer of a baby who was not cooperating, so we went to look at other bits. It was really cool looking at the brain and all the bones and thinking that this has all grown inside of me! Again, though, Turtle was not always the most cooperative with lots of kicking and arms flailing.

We finally got to the heart, which looks great and was beating very regularly. Our 'scanner' went to grab her supervisor to have a look, because she was having a few issues getting clear images. The supervisor obviously had a lot of experience and was a little lighter with the scanner, which was a relief on my rather full bladder.

The final verdict was one very active, but good looking baby (with incredibly cute hands and feet). My placenta is about 3mm lower than they like it, so they want me in for another scan at 34 weeks, but they're pretty confident it will move up out of the way. So about an hour after we went in, we were able to take our lovely images and head off (still none the wiser about whether Turtle is a boy or a girl!)

18 Weeks and One Day - About the length of a pickle . . .

I kind of suck at this regular updating thing. I blame being busy :)

What has happened since my last substantial post? Well . . .

-I've grown out of all my pre-pregnancy work pants and skirts. This came clear to me when I needed a hair band to fasten one pair of pants. I had two pairs of pants and a skirt, but I found a dress online, and then got two pairs of pants from Target (for about the same cost as regular pants! Score) I don't have any casual clothes yet, but I'll try to fix that this weekend. The two hardest things is 1) it's still hot here, but I have to buy warmer stuff since most of my pregnancy is in autumn and winter and 2) Why are so many pregnancy skirts, straight skirts? I didn't wear them before I got pregnant!

-I had the diabetes test last week because of the alert at the hospital. It was pretty easy - a couple of hours of sitting around, and the results came back all clear. The drink was like carbonated lime cordial and was quite yummy :)

-I've mastered the art of crocheting booties finally!

-I had a hospital visit today about the thyroid issue. The doctor answered a few of my other questions before I visited the vampires (pathology). Unfortunately I've just realised their Maths sucks, so I have to ring back to change the appointments that were made for me . . .

-My ultrasound is next week!

16 Weeks Booking In Appointment

Yesterday we had our first booking in appointment which was strange, lengthy and at times a little alarming.

We're having Turtle at the biggest hospital in Queensland, so the waiting room was packed with pregnant women when we got there. Another newbie was in front of us in the line with no idea what to do until a nice guy took pity on both of us and handed us a vibrating buzzer thing that they use to avoid big line ups near the door. When it buzzed (telling us our steak was ready, according to M) I was quickly checked in, then it was just a couple of minutes until I was called.

We started with a urine test. Like every other woman in the line up, (A Wee Lineup) I was dehydrated, but they also found glucose in my urine which means there's a possibility of gestational diabetes. I was weighed and found out I'm back to my most bloated post-egg pickup weight.

The midwife took me into the room on my own first to complete the confidential stuff. They obviously need to know if you've ever had a pregnancy, miscarriage or STD, and I suppose it's something that people might hide from their partners. They also check to see if there's any risk of domestic abuse and did a mental assessment. On the mental assessment I'm demonstrating my usual anxiety tendencies. I'm aware of them, and I'm aware it's been a particularly stressful week, so as long as I keep being aware, I should be fine.

M then came in to join us, and we went through all the paperwork, which I now keep with me all the time. We discussed that I'd like to use shared care with the GP, but due to my Thyroid condition I may not be able to do that, and that's alright too. We went through M's medical record (short) and mine (lengthy, particularly the family history section. We hit heart disease, blood pressure, diabetes, asthma and a few others for good measure).

Then we discussed the IVF. I must say, there's a disappointing lack of knowledge of IVF in the medical community. When we explained that they use a needle attached to the ultrasound wand and they pierce the walls to collect the eggs (30 times in my case), the two midwives in the room both winced. I suppose a lot of IVF patients go to private hospitals, which might explain that.

We also talked about the possibility of diabetes. I need to do a fasting test because it's too early to do the drink test. If it comes back clear, we'll do another one in a few weeks.

We went through more paperwork, including giving consent for the midwife to visit and booking in our prenatal classes. I got some information on mental health and pregnancy. Then it was time to (finally) hear the heart beat.

When they found it, it was pretty awesome, but we soon found out it was a bit irregular. (Also, it moved a lot) Another midwife reached the same conclusion and they went out to get a doctor, which scared me quite a bit. The doctor came in, and took forever to find the heartbeat. He also decided it was a bit irregular, and though he wasn't terribly concerned, he grabbed a portable ultrasound machine for peace of mind. So we got to see Turtle again.

He or she has grown a lot in the last three weeks and was extremely active. There was kicking and waving arms around and turning around away from the ultrasound. The doctor had a good look at the heart and was happy with it, even though it is a little irregular, so that made us feel a lot better.

I'm glad we chose this hospital. The staff were all friendly, even though they were very busy and I never felt rushed or unimportant. I hope it stays that way :) And I got to see Turtle again!