A New Start

I had my D&E this morning. We went last Friday to talk to the Dr. about the procedure and I found it to be a lot easier than I had read. Most people have to check in to the hospital and are completely sedated during the procedure. They are there for a good 6 hours or so for all of the hospital overhead. My doctor said that I could do that or, since the pregnancy was so early on, I could have it done in the office in under 30 minutes. I really like my doctor and trust him. So I decided on the office.

This morning I took Valium at around 9 and headed to the office. I was pretty loopy when I got there. They also gave me a shot in the booty of pain reliever. I won't go into all the details but basically I was manually dilated and numbed internally. He then made a couple of passes with suction and removed all the tissue and blood. Near the end, I was in quite a bit of pain from the cramping. I sat back for a few minutes and it eventually went away. I did however get very nauseas and had to vomit a little. Apparently I could have eaten breakfast with my medication but I thought that I shouldn't. After that though, I felt much better....and wanted to eat :).

The doctor did tell me that what he saw was that my body was still creating a healthy environment for the baby...it just couldn't grow anymore. I am pretty sure they send off for tests to make sure it wasn't something out of the ordinary and I should hear back in a few weeks. I have another follow up in 2 weeks.

I came home and ate and then took a long nap to sleep off the drugs. I feel pretty good. I have been suffering from allergies for a few days now...and even those seem to be slacking off. So I feel great! I have only bled a bit and maybe had 1 or 2 slight cramps. I also got a nice big bottle of hydracodone to "help me sleep". Woooha. And on that note, I just love my insurance. All I have payed for for all of this is about $8 in drugs. The copay is INSANE!

Well I hope this will help some people understand the whole process of miscarriage more. Like I said in my previous post, I am happy to talk about it. I feel like it is kept so quiet and so foreign to people that when it happens, people don't know where to turn. So if you know anyone that needs someone to talk to, I am always here :).

So this is our new start. We have to wait for me to have one normal cycle and we are cleared to go :).

Pumpkin's First Photo Shoot

And here's Pumpkin! We saw the little heart beat today :). Looks like we are measuring at 6 weeks and 1 day today. That means we are to a October 29th due date. So the Dr. sees that as behind based on the usually markers so we are going back in 2 weeks. Personally I am fine with that...the more I can see Pumpkin...the happier I will be. I had just heard about these fetal dopplers you can rent to hear the heart beat at home to reassure that everything is ok...but if I can just go to the doctor a few more times...that will be good as well.

I also learned that the prenatal vitamins with fish oil are disgusting. I had been taking these for a week when I finally smelled one...and then proceeded to burp a fishy taste for several hours....it was awful. So I switched to a plant based omega 3 source and it seems much better.

On Friday, Joelle unknowingly told me about these pregtastic podcasts. They are great. They are about all kinds of topics. It is a group of girls that come together to talk and interview doctors, authors, business owners about pregnancy. I have been listening to them while I script at work and it makes the time pass quickly. I highly recommend!

I told my boss today. I know they say to wait until 12 weeks but I felt weird taking off for so many Dr. appointments. I never have them and I figured she would worry. She hadn't noticed and she was very excited....even more so that I was due in the fall :). I think she is a little excited to know before Amy(Kevin's cousin and her best friend).

And lastly, an update on how I am feeling. I still don't feel sick(minus the fish pill episode). I still have really sore boobs. I pretty much have some kind of bra on at all times. I can start to feel some ligaments in my abdomen stretching when I stand up and walk briskly. I get a little tired right after lunch...especially when I don't work out. In the evenings, all I want to do is lay down and watch TV. I got a plantar wart on my right root over the weekend. I don't know if it hasn't anything to do with this stuff. But I asked my doctor about medicines and he SWEARS that duct tape works. His wife is a pediatrician and her kids do it and it works. Who knew?

Welp Mommy is coming into town for my birthday this weekend...going to finish cleaning!

Our First OB Visit

Welp today was our first prenatal appointment. I went in and gave a vat of blood and peed in a cup. Then got the whole blood pressure and height mumbo jumbo. The nurses were really funny and all cutting up with one another….definitely my kinda place. So far so good. Then we went back to meet Dr. Siedel. He is GREAT. He talks a mile a minute…which is just fine by me. He is very funny and blunt. I got a goody bag of stuff(that I haven’t gone through yet) and he went over the basics. I was impressed. I took a sheet of questions and he answered all but 3 without me asking! He saw my notebook and asked if I was Type A and then proceeded to make fun of me. He told me to get used to it because just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean he won’t make fun of people. I told him I would do the same in return.

He reassured some things I was worried about like sleeping on my back. A lot of places I read said it was bad to sleep on your back because you could cut off the blood supply back the heart….this did seem a little odd but I bought into it. He said that isn’t a problem…if I get into a state where it could be, he would let me know. So now I can finally sleep! Hallelujah! Also the whole caffeine scare thing. He noted the recent studies that came out(which Kevin found on that DAMN CNN) and said that those women were JACKED UP on caffeine. A soda every once in awhile or a cup of coffee isn’t going to hurt anything. Also he said putting Splenda in stuff is just fine and his exact words were “If you are using 40 Splenda packets a day, you let me know because you probably need to go to Holly Hill.” So this was all fun and great and very helpful. They also have a great computer system with tablet PCs. He gets his missed calls right there on it. Awesome stuff. Also to note, this practice has 2 OBGYNS. I will bounce between the 2. They say it is so we get used to them both and get the same great treatment all the time. I like it. And I hear the other Dr. is just as great from Jen.

After all the office talk, I went and had a pap. Kevin got to be in the room…so I am sure it was more of an event for him than me. It was super fast and over with…nothing to it. Then they did a transvaginal ultrasound. It looks like we were off a little of the timing of Pumpkin. It was too small to tell anything yet and of course no heart beat yet. We are scheduled for another appointment next Thursday to try again…joy..another week of waiting! But he said that the sac(amniotic I am guessing) looked “good and thick”. Most likely we are just off by a few days…which would make sense to me since I had a 35 cycle…so I would ovulate later than a regular 28 day gal. But he did a little measurement and Pumpkin is .77 cm wide. He also said that it looked so healthy that he doesn’t think it would be a miscarriage…at least not now. I was a little disappointed because I had gotten carried away and got a little too excited for today….but I can just wait until next week…and then hopefully we can get ourselves a due date!

The Before

So part of what I wanted to do in this journal is do a log of my changes. With that, you always need a start. On a full scale, I had a physical in July and under went a fitness profile in the fall to do a extensive preconception workup. I was healthy as a horse. I also talked with the trainers at the gym for good exercises to do to prepare my body. I enrolled in pilates for my core and back muscles, changed my running schedule, and added in more strength training and weights for my stamina. Without further ado...I give you pre-preggers Brandy:

Measurements
Height: 5' 1"
Weight: 113 lbs
Body Fat: 24%
Bust: 34.5"
Waist: 26.3"
Hips: 35.5"
Body Mass Index: 20.8
Blood Pressure: 94/66


Fitness
Curl-ups in 1 min: 62
Push-ups until exhaustion: 43
Sit & Reach: 14.5"
Aerobic capacity: 43.9 vo2

So here we go....