The waiting game...

So as instructed I made plans today to go get my blood re-drawn for the prenatal panel that my Dr's office had lost. I drive all the way down there, park in the parking garage and yes pay to park.
I go upstairs and sign in and tell the receptionist why I am there. I sit down...and a watch all the patients in the waiting room come and go..the next batch of patients come and go..and the next batch after that come and go. I have no concept of time as I had left my cell phone in the car..but I figure by now it has been some time...finally the nurse apparently gets tired of seeing me sit there for that long and finally asks me why I am still here. I tell her I am waiting for the lab tech so I can get my prenatal panel re-drawn. She says okay let me go check for you. I wait again...eventually she and the lab tech come out and tell me to come back. So I sit down in the lab area and the waiting game starts again. Then about ten minutes later the lab tech informs me they lost my paper work and the Dr had to resubmit my lab order (you have GOT to be kidding me!) So then I have wait again for the order to go through and have them printed up. The lab tech also informs me that the reason I was waiting so long is that the Dr thought I was there to get my blood drawn and the lab tech thought I was there to see the Dr....no one actually checked with the receptionist. By this time I found out I had been waiting in the waiting room for an HOUR...then got to wait in the lab for another 10 minutes. So the paper work finally comes through and she says tells me it looks like my blood type was never even ordered in the first panel which is odd since its routine panel for every pregnant woman. *sigh*
She finally gets the Ok to poke me and that she does...several times in fact. She made this big deal about how great my veins were and I had many to choose from. Then she can't even get one! so a couple pokes later and I am finally out of there! luckily the guy at the toll booth recognized me since I had been there so often lately and he was nice enough not to charge me the whole thing and only made me pay $2.25. *sigh* it has been a long day.

Ladies and Gentlemen...we have a Fetus

Well I had my second prenatal Dr's appt today. They have you come in once a month and as you get closer to the due date the appts start getting closer together until they see you once a week in the last few weeks. Not a whole lot to report, which is a good thing. We mostly discussed my birthing options (traditional VS Midwife delivery). I must say the midwife option sounds more pleasant at the moment. Also talked about different genetic testing and if I was going to be getting them done or not. I also met the OB Dr who will be delivering Baby G if I do stay with this office for the remainder of this pregnancy. She seemed nice enough. Unfortunately this appt did not end well for me. At the first prenatal appt they have you do this huge battery of blood draws and test called a prenatal panel. Basically testing you for everything known to man and to get your blood type...well I had asked what why I had not gotten the results to these labs since they were done over a month ago. I was really curious as to what my blood type was. Well it turns out they had LOST my blood samples!! The blood bank did not even have my name on record anywhere. Well needless to say I have to make ANOTHER trip out of my way to get them re-taken. Now if you know me at all...you know I have a huge needle phobia. I have already been subjected to more than the average needle pokes with this pregnancy than most women have to get. *sigh* I guess I am willing to do anything for this baby...Ahhh a mothers love :-)
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The baby at 9 weeks:
The crown-to-rump length of your baby is about 1.25 to 1.68 inches (between 3.1 and 4.2cm). The placenta is now producing progesterone which helps to make nutrients for your developing baby. Your baby has passed the stage when he is most susceptible to damage. By the end of this week, the danger zone for congenital abnormalities has passed. The plan for your baby's body has been completely laid down by now. Further growth and cell division will build on this plan. Taste and tooth buds have appeared. Your baby has recently developed fingers and toes which are now well-formed. Ankles, wrists and the inner ear have formed. Your baby's nose is flat and his eyes are far apart. His eyes, ears, mouth and nose are all recognizable. The tail is disappearing. Your baby is moving around the amniotic sac, and moving his feet and ankles. You still will not be able to feel these movements but you may be able to see them on an ultrasound. Blood is circulating through the arteries and the vein of the umbilical cord. The brain of your baby is developing at a phenomenal rate. About one quarter of a million new neurons are produced every single minute at this stage in your pregnancy. If your baby is a boy, his testes, though they are not even clearly visible, are already producing testosterone. Your baby is no longer called an embryo, but rather a fetus.

The results

I waited all day for the call from my Dr to tell me the results of the HCG and ultrasound. Finally at 4:57 she calls. She tells me my HCG numbers are still fairly high but my ultrasound looked good she did see a heartbeat and it looks to be healthy and strong...but it also is measuring a bit large so maybe I am further along than I think I am..maybe 8 weeks instead of 6........ *blink blink* Uhhhh I *AM* 8 weeks! Do you mean to tell me I went through all of that for NOTHING? Oh Dear Lord! She goes on to ask me if I had scheduled the high powered ultrasound for 10 weeks and I told her I didn't think I was going to..the risk outweighs the benefits. She says I really think you should considering the circumstances. WHAT circumstances. I am 8 weeks pregnant....I am measuring 8 weeks pregnant, They saw a healthy heartbeat, and my HCG levels are measuring 8 weeks. Where is the problem? I have come the conclusion that I am really glad she wont be the one delivering this baby. I will be referred to a different Dr for that. All this added stress for nothing! *sigh* at least the outcome was good news.
*HCG levels for Feb 19 2008 - 153,396
*HCG levels for Feb 21 2008 - 155,312
*Ultrasound Feb 20 2008 - singleton live birth in utero. measure 8 weeks - 156 BPM.

Letting the cat out of the bag...

I got my blood re checked today for my HCG levels. Now all I have to do is wait for the results and hope my numbers went up.
On the bright side we told our families today. Oh what a relief this was...I was so tired of holding this wonderful news to myself!
I bought my mom a book entitled 'When a child is born, so is a Grandmother'. I wrapped it up. My mom, Stefanie and Ben were sitting in the car in the mall parking lot waiting
for me to get back from the Dr's. I walked up to car..handed my mom the gift...she unwrapped it...looked at the book and just started screaming!! Jumped out of the car and started
jumping up and down, crying and hugging me. Stefanie was very confused and asking "WHATS GOING ON!?!?!" my mom hands her the book, she reads it and starts screaming and jumping up and down and runs over to me and starts hugging me too...by now Ben is thinking we are nuts and saying over and over..WHAT WHAT??? Stefanie blurts out...CHRISTA
IS PREGNANT!!!...So now he jumps out of the car and runs over to hug me. There we were in the mall parking lot..all of us jumping up and down and hugging and crying. I am surprised mall security didn't come over! hehe.
Today also happens to be Jackie's birthday - We bought her a bib that says "I love Grandma" and also we got her a frame with the ultrasound picture in it. We had headed over to her house to give her her birthday presents...instructed Dave to have his camera ready because he will want to capture her face. She opens the box with the bib and stares at it for a second..then looks at me with a face like "Are you serious???" I nodded a big yes. She couldn't believe it she had her mouth open for like 5 minutes. I believe there was some laughing and Oh my Gods!
Then she jumped up to hug me. She opened the picture frame and was equally excited! Jen and Brian had come over shortly after to bring her their gift. Jackie sat with the bib folded up in her hand in her lap..she looked over at Jen and asked "Do you want to see what Chris and Christa got me?" and she held up the bib. Jen looks over at me with the same face "Are you serious?" and I nodded again and she runs over to hug me as well. It was a very exciting day. I believe this baby is very welcome into this family already. Everyone is stunned and excited and needless to say very happy.
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The baby at 8 weeks -

Your baby measures about 0.9 to 1.2 inches (2.2 to 3cm) from crown to rump.
Your baby's arms and legs are longer and her hands are flexed at the wrist. The head is growing more erect and the neck is more developed. On an ultrasound, you may see your baby moving, though you still can not feel this.
The organs are forming. Ears are developed and the eyelids have begun to cover up your baby's eyes. Hands and feet appear as well as small buds which will become fingers and toes. The paddles of your baby's hands have clearly defined finger ridges now, with the tissue between them (which previously made them look webbed) reducing to leave separate fingers.Your baby's back has started to straighten slightly and the tail is now shrinking. The head still seems large and is curved forwards on her chest. Your baby is starting to look like a tiny person!

2nd Ultrasound

Chris worked from home today so he could take me to the hospital for the ultrasound. We arrived 10 minutes early as told. 12:50 pm. Our Appt was at 1 pm.
We were called back..I changed into the gown and we got started. I had a different tech this time thank goodness! This one was MUCH more friendly and easy going.
We were there for about 40 minutes and the baby has already grown so much in 2 weeks...and the best news of all...They saw the heartbeat!!! 156 beautiful beats per minute!!
This is the best news in the world!! We got a picture of our little one this time around. Not that much to see but its beautiful and its ours!

oh how things change...

Well today I woke up feeling good. Until about 1:30 in the afternoon when I got a Phone call from my Dr. She was concerned that there was no heartbeat recorded on my chart
at the ultrasound. She told me sometimes there is a gestational sac and yolk sac but no fetus. She wanted me to come in ASAP and get my HCG levels drawn and I needed to schedule another ultrasound stat so see if we could see a heartbeat this time.
Okay I don't like the sound of this at all! I am freaking out!! Not something I want to hear. I went to get my HCG levels drawn. And was told I needed to come back on Thursday to get them re checked and my ultrasound had been schedule for the following day.

First Ultrasound

Chris once again came with me to my ultrasound appt. Chris got to see everything while I layed there and got to glance at the screen once when she pointed out what she THOUGHT my be the heartbeat. turned out not be though. But its still early. I am dated today to be exactly 6 weeks along. Today is the first day I actually feel pregnant. Morning sickness has his me now but so far it doesn't seem to be to bad.