NT Results

This morning I was able to pick up the actual results from the NT scan yesterday and I'm happy to report that all is looking well!  We are low risk for everything tested - these were the actual results:

Background risk according to maternal age:

Trisomy 21 - 1:675                 Trisomy 18 - 1:1648                                 Trisomy 13 - 1:5170

Adjusted risk using scan, bloods etc:

Trisomy 21 - 1:6974              Trisomy 18 - 1:32958                                Trisomy 13 - 1:103396

Everything else is looking good as well.  They have listed the gestational age from the scan as 12w5d, so 4 days ahead of the last scan.  Only other thing is that the placenta is developing anteriorly, which doesn't cause any dramas as far as the pregnancy, but does mean that it may take longer for me to feel the baby's movements.  I had an anterior placenta with my last pregnancy and didn't feel him until around 20 weeks - being at the front, it tends to block the baby's movements.  But as long as all is well with me and the baby, that's all I can really ask for!

12 Week NT Scan

I had my 12 week NT scan this afternoon, and while I still haven't got the actual risk assessment results, the sonographer was happy with the actual scan.  Everything looked as it was supposed to, the first heart rate measurement was 155bpm, another one later in the scan was 165bpm, both she was very happy with.

It was such a relief to see the baby today, and so incredible to watch him/her moving around...everywhere!  The place we went to was lovely too, and we got a DVD with some video and images to take home.  I'm picking up some hard copy photos as well as getting my actual results back tomorrow morning.

Going by my 28/12 EDD, I would be 12w1d today and as you can see from the first image below, the baby measured 12w4d which I was very relieved with.  It's amazing the difference that just 2 weeks can make!

It's still so hard to believe that we could have another baby in our family, but I am feeling a lot better after the scan today.  My job now is to try and relax and enjoy this wonderful journey that I have been given.

Awaiting scan

Not much new happening here, just waiting for my 12 week NT scan on Wednesday.  I had my bloods done on Saturday so that they would have the results for the scan.  My OB also organised for me to have the normal pregnancy bloods done, after having had them done around 2-3 years ago for my last pregnancy, I'm not expecting anything out of the ordinary.

I realised that I haven't actually mentioned my EDD - I've had a few of them, but the one that I think is probably the most accurate, and the one that I think the specialist is going with is the 28th December.  So a Christmas/New Year baby :o  :)

I'm feeling ok at the moment, the morning sickness that I was having has pretty much gone, but I'm still feeling very tired.  I'm trying to stay relaxed and positive, but I have to admit that I'm already getting nervous about the scan.

Announcement

Yes, that is my baby!! :)

On our break from IVF, we were shocked with a surprise natural conception.  Something we didn't think possible considering the issues we have on both sides.  And I'm so very excited to report that I am now 10 weeks pregnant with a beautiful looking little baby!!

I have been documenting my journey since we found out, but have been too anxious to publish until now.  We won't be announcing it to the world until after the NT scan in a couple of weeks, but I wanted to let you all know first as you have been such a wonderful support to me over the last few years.

So my apologies for not being able to tell you sooner, but please feel free to continue reading below to catch up, the last post being 'Obstetrician Appointment'

Big surprise...

As much as I still feel like a bit of a fraud writing this, I have decided that it is important for me to document all of my journey, regardless of the outcome. However it will most likely still be some time before I will actually publish this for the world to see...

The one on the left was taken last Friday morning (23/4), the one on the right was taken the next day (Sat 24/4).

To say that this was a shock is an understatement. As I have already written, we have been on a break from IVF since our last miscarriage back at the start of January. While our desire to have another child had not faded, we had not planned to go back to IVF until early 2011 and were comfortable with our decision and enjoying life without IVF or the pressures of TTC.

I have been keeping an eye on my cycles regardless - not really in a TTC sense, but more to see if they were going to turn into any sort of normal cycle. My first one after the miscarriage was no surprise - 51 days long and no clear ovulation (based on both CM and cervix position observations). The second cycle started on 14th March and continued normally (for me) until about 3 weeks ago. I noticed both CM and cervix position indicating ovulation. Now, this on it's own was not a huge deal - I have noticed this many times before, but have ended up with a period only a few days later. This time, I had nothing for pretty much spot on 2 weeks. Then I noticed my cervix drop down low and I had the tiniest amount of spotting. I was actually really happy...this was the first time that my cycle had followed a 'normal' pattern indicating that it could be possible that I ovulated! But the spotting very quickly disappeared, and I noticed over the next couple of days that my cervix became higher up, but remained firm and closed. I kept checking every night, and it remained the same and there was no more signs of bleeding. The pregnancy word kept trying to pop into my head, but I called myself crazy and moved on.

After 5 days of this, I ended up deciding to do a HPT. Not because I was expecting a positive, but I needed to see the negative. I was also looking at a trial at a local gym, and wanted to make 100% sure that I was crazy before working my body hard at the gym.

So, I got up early before Jake was awake. Hubby had already left for work. I did the test, then proceded to spend some one on one time with the laptop. I was so convinced that it would be a negative that I figured the time didn't really matter, so I didn't even check. I guess it would have been about 15 mins later when I looked at the time and saw it was 6am...the time that Jake normally wakes up. I figured I should go and throw out the test before he gets up to make sure I don't forget. I didn't want my hubby to find out that I had done a test - partly because I didn't want him to think I was crazy and partly because I didn't want him to get his hopes up about the potential for a natural pregnancy.

As I walked in towards the test, I was reassuring myself that I had seen many many negatives before so this one would be no big deal. I walked in to the bathroom and went to pick it up to put it in the bin, and that's when I saw the two lines. I was absolutely gobsmacked. Instantly my hands went up over my mouth and I started to shake. I had to sit down to stablise myself. I wish I could say that my first reaction was excitement, but it was actually fear. I was terrified of going through what I was still trying to recover from, the potential of having my hopes built up and then completly crushed. I didn't know what to do...I didn't want to call my husband at work and make his day difficult through having that excitement/fear on the phone, but I needed to tell someone, I needed to talk to someone...I needed my husband. So I called him to tell him the news - it was the last thing that he expected to hear! He was absolutely overjoyed...after the initial shock wore off that is! He was very reassuring and really helped me to feel better about the chances of this one working out. He suggested booking a doctor's appointment for later that day to get the hcg level, he took control. I was so glad that I called him, I even managed to stop shaking!!

I had my hcg level tested that afternoon and have a doctor's appointment booked for this coming Tuesday, hopefully to get the results. I have managed to find a fantastic GP who was more than happy to oblige with two quantitive hcg blood test requests that I can get a few days apart to check for doubling times. He has even already indicated that he would be happy to arrange an early scan once we get the results back and see where we are at. If only my last specialist was as supportive!!

The second test was done the next morning, mainly for our own peace of mind, needing to see those lines again. I had also noticed that the Friday morining FMU wasn't as concentrated as normal so wanted to get another guage. As you can see from the picture, the second test was much darker which was obviously more reassuring.

I am obviously very keen to get the actual hcg numbers back though. I'm really hoping that it will help me to accept that this is real. It is still such a shock, and after 3 m/c in a row, I am scared to accept that it is happening for fear of something going wrong. But on the other hand, I don't want to miss out on those wonderful feelings of joy that most people experience. I guess for now, it is just another waiting game for us. And as hard as it is, it is so much easier than the waiting after an IVF cycle - not being on any meds, not having the huge emotional, physical and financial comittment weighing in on the result. I just can't believe it...is it possible I could be one of THEM???

Level number 1

At the doctor's appointment today, I got the level back from Friday's blood test...380.

I wish I felt more reassured with that result. It's not a completely bad result I guess, I was just hoping for it to be a bit higher. I had another blood test this morning which I am very keen to get the result back on because the doubling time is a lot more important than a single number. The doctor is going to call me tomorrow with the result, until then all I can do is just keep waiting...

Another HPT

Here is the HPT from this morning...

It's definately reassuring in a way to see such a dark line, but I'm still hanging out for the second blood test result today. I guess it doesn't help when the line got so dark with my last miscarriage. But, no sign of any bleeding and lines getting darker can only be a good sign for now...

Second blood test result

What a wonderful GP I have found - 8:30am this morning and he has already phoned with my result!

2500!!

Wow, I was very surprised to hear such a high result. I was hoping for it to show doubling every 2 days - it was a bit under 4 days in between blood tests (Friday afternoon, Tuesday morning). Doubling twice would have made it 1520. So a great result so far...of course we still have a bit to go before I will feel comfortable breaking out the bubbly, but it did make me feel a sigh of relief.

The GP asked me what I would like to do next - I have asked for a scan in about 2 weeks time, so at about 7 weeks. He was happy to oblige (and in fact said that it would be his recommendation too) and is going to leave a form at the front counter for me to pick up. And just to come and see him if I have any worries or issues in the meantime. Where has this GP been all my life!!

Still here

Well so far, everything is still going well. I have been away interstate visiting family for the last week which has worked out to be a great distraction. I also decided though to tell both my parents about the pregnancy - I couldn't be down there and not tell them, especially when there most likely wouldn't have been any other opportunity to tell them in person. It felt very strange announcing it so early, but I'm still comfortable with my decision to do so, and won't be going completely public with it until after the NT scan.

I did another HPT just after I got back and the test line came up just as quickly and strongly as the control line which was a relief. And no sign of any cramping or bleeding - though I have been checking for any sign of blood multiple times throughout each day, and I don't think I have ever been more in tune with my body!

I've also noticed a few symptoms over the last couple of days...bloating in a major way for starters! I thought it was mostly the meds last time, but I seem to be just as bloated, if not more, this time around. I look around 12-14 weeks pregnant already and it is hard to hide - especially with a toddler (when people expect more pregnancies to happen).

I've also noticed that I need to eat more often or I start to get waves of nausea. And this morning I got what I can only assume was my first taste of morning sickness. I woke up early feeling queasy, ended up trying to eat some breakfast to make myself feel better, but had one mouthful of cereal and thought I was going to throw up. Had to let each mouthful settle before the next, but started to feel better by the end of the bowl. So although I was hoping to avoid morning sickness this time around, it is probably a really good sign.

I picked up my referral form for my scan from the GP's office yesterday and booked it in for Monday morning. By my guess, I would be 7w1d. I probably could have chanced going in a bit earlier (with my last pg I was 6w5d), but I wanted to wait the extra few days to give a better chance of a clearer scan.

So for the meantime, it's just more waiting. I have loads to distract me at the moment though, including my son's birthday party in a few days, so it should come around fairly quickly...

Again

I found out yesterday that my sister is pregnant!! We were both pregnant at the same time with our last pregnancies - she was about 2 months ahead of me. This time there is less than a week difference! She has worked out her due date as the 31st December, my guess of mine is the 26th December. It was pretty incredible when she told me, I must have looked very strange in the middle of the grocery shop yelling out 'Me too!' into the phone again and again lol.

Scan results

The results from the scan are in...we have one healthy looking baby on board!

The sonographer said the heart beat looked nice and strong, it measured in at 122bpm which I'm happy with. The measurements were smaller than what I was expecting though, based on my own observations of my cycle. I would have put it at 7w1d, but the overall result from the scan was 6w2d. But I am aware that scans this early have a margin of error and there is also some room in the dates of my cycle considering it was a natural conception. It's just a little difficult to adjust after having everything so rigid with IVF conception.

So overall a great result being that the main aim was to see a good heart beat. It was so incredible seeing that little blob on the screen, especially on a break from IVF. It's still hard to believe that the blob is our baby...

The next step

All seems to be going well so far. I've had mildish morning sickness pretty much constantly for the last couple of weeks, as well as episodes of fatigue. While it has helped to reassure me that the baby is doing well, I must admit it has been difficult feeling so terrible at times while caring for an active toddler! The morning sickness has been the hardest - I feel like I am constantly on a rocking boat. But I think I am starting to get better at managing it to minimise it's effect. I have to eat every hour or so...I am so sick of eating!!

My belly also seems to be confused as to how far along I am! I'm already running out of clothes that fit/hide the bump and I look comparable to how I was at around 3-4 months with my last pregnancy. I'm hoping it will settle down a bit soon, or that things will just catch up to themselves so I don't end up absolutely massive!

The follow up appointment at the GP went as expected. I got the actual end results from the scan, they have actually put me at 6w3d (crown to rump length of 5.4mm) which is 5 days behind what I expected. With margin of error on both my calculations and the scan, I think it is a good result. That would put my EDD as the 31/12/10. So if all goes well, it will be a very busy Christmas/New Year for us!!

The next step for me is an obstetrician appointment. I managed to make an appointment a couple of weeks ago, a difficult thing for me to do with my recent history. The appointment is for the 1st of June so only a couple of weeks away. I must admit I am very keen to hopefully get another look at the baby to get that reassurance that everything is progressing as it should. In the meantime, all I can do is keep waiting...

Obstetrician Appointment

I had my first OB appointment this morning and I'm feeling very relieved that all is going well so far. I am so very happy with my choice of OB & hospital. They are both very pro choice and low intervention which I really need after my last induction birth. My last birth has really scarred me when it comes to thinking about another birth, but the midwife has started helping me already and is confident that she can help get me into a better headspace before my next birth. She was so lovely and full of information and support. The actual OB is wonderful as well, he has a very relaxed and friendly nature and was very reassuring after knowing my situation. He is actually an IVF specialist as well which I guess would help with understanding the kinds of emotions that go along with such treatment.

We also got to see the baby again which was just wonderful. I was so nervous going into the appointment, but felt so much better after seeing that the baby had been progressing well. It's now actually starting to look like a baby and we got to see it moving around. Such a wonderful experience. And even with this being my second pregnancy, it's still so hard to believe that there is an actual baby inside me right now.