Strongest Heartbeat Ever

Very exciting time today. Chris, Ty and I all piled in the car and headed to our third prenatal visit. Chris wasn't feeling all that well today, but he was a trooper. The past few weeks I have still been filled with fears and concerns about the babies safety. Because we have only heard one heart beat and because I have been so small and haven't felt much baby movement I am constantly questioning whether the baby is still safe and sound. I feared we would enter this appointment and leave not hearing a heartbeat and being worried and rushing to the emergency room.

Well the first portion of the appointment was just your typical appointment. Besides the fact that we actually got whisked in right away, no waiting at all. I barely had time to get my weight before they were ready for us. Then we had the usually small talk, how things are, what are my questions, etc. And she got out the goods and instructed me to get on board for hearing the heartbeat. I prepared myself for a good five to ten minutes of trying again. She jelled up the unit and put it on my stomach and immediately (no exaggeration) we heard the loud strong heartbeat at a mighty 152 beats per minute. I loved it. It was like God said .. 'There ... now quit whining Philippa.' So I am done being a big worried baby.

Other exciting news is we already scheduled to have our ultrasound done in two weeks from now.We are super excited and can't wait to find out the sex of the baby.

There is Life After All

For weeks now I have been concerned because I haven't gained much weight at all and you can not tell I am pregnant at all and we are already 14 weeks along. Especially in the morning, my tummy is as flat as ever. I have had no reassurance that everything is okay because I haven't felt the baby move yet and we haven't needed an early sonogram and our last appointment at 10 weeks it was too early to hear a heart beat. So all this time I have been operating on faith and confidence that everything is great.

But finally this past Wednesday we had our second prenatal check up. We went in saying that basically if we didn't hear from the midwife that one, the baby is the right size and two we hear a heart beat, I was scheduling a sonogram right away. Well after minutes of poking and probing and two Dopplers later we finally picked up a small drum roll of a heart beat.

This little baby has picked just the oddest position to rest in. Apparently my uterus is in a Retroflexed position. Here is a little blurb about that and what difficulties it can cause during my visits:

Diagnostic Difficulties

Uterine position can cause some difficulties during examinations. During manual pelvic examinations performed by a family physician or gynecologist, a retroverted or retroflexed uterus may be more difficult to feel. Retroflexed uteruses can cause examination difficulties during early pregnancy. The baby's heartbeat may not be heard as early in the pregnancy as with an anteverted or retroverted uterus. Retroflexed uteruses may be difficult to image during the abdominal portion of a pelvic or early pregnancy ultrasound, whereas a retroverted uterus may be more difficult to image using transvaginal ultrasonography. These difficulties arise because portions of the uterus are farther away from the transducer, or ultrasound camera.

Read more at Suite101: Uterine Positions: Normal Variations and Associated Difficultieshttp://www.suite101.com/content/uterine-positions-a141677#ixzz14Q64wlYa

 So you can imagine my relief of why it took so long to find the heart beat. This positioning would also explain why my stomach is so small on the outside. I can feel my pants are tighter but didn't really see anything. That is because the baby is growing up and downwards and not toward my tummy. But the good thing is this isn't permanent. My uterus will change to the anteverted position (which is the ideal position) as the pregnancy goes a long and the baby gets bigger. Kind of like a balloon inflating.

10 Weeks and Counting

This week we reached the ten week mark and things are getting exciting. On Wednesday we had our first prenatal check up at BirthCare in Virginia. Originally Toya was going to come with me but things worked out that Chris was home and able to come with me instead. The appointment was a normal first check up, urine test, blood test, pap smear and the first attempt to hear the heart beat. We tried but the baby was just too tiny for the Doppler to pick up the heart beat. Our next appointment isn't for another four weeks and I will be 14 weeks then so maybe ... fingers crossed. We were thinking of doing an ultrasound around now, like we did with Ty but because the insurance is different up here they may only cover one ultrasound so I think we would just go ahead and wait until the big 20 week ultrasound.

Besides that, things are as expected. I am almost always, tired and always hungry and always feeling woozy. I had my first episode of emotional breakdown ... which compared to this time with Ty is a lot better. In the middle of the week, after the appointment I was just looking around at all the stuff that wasn't getting done properly (or at all) at work, at home and just everyone. I was feeling very low and ashamed. Since then things have certainly improved. I have caught up a lot at work and my boss is so caring and understanding that he has given me Monday of next week off. And my home is in much better order thanks to Chris' help and Ty's cooperation. Things aren't perfect but at least I don't feel like a failure right now. Which is nice.

BirthCare Visit

Recently I got to experience my first baby related appointment. Ever since Ty's birth I have been dreaming and hoping for the opportunity to deliver our next child in the comfort of our own home. In Florida, we knew the right people and midwife that could make that happen. Well needless to say, we are no longer in Florida and do not have those people to rely on any more. So since we moved, and long before we found out I was pregnant I have been researching and calling around to find a midwife that would be willing and able to come to our home to deliver our child for us. I met with a few early on but for each of them I was out of their radius of travel. To make matters worse, not only was I not finding one to come to the house, the ones that were local did not have an actual birthing center, we would have to go to the hospital with them for the birth ... Boooo!!

Well finally after months of searching I found a midwife organization that has not just one but six midwifes and would actually be able to travel to my home for the delivery. I went to their information session were the get to meet and greet couples that could potentially be new patients and share information about their practice and home births in general. I was so glad that attended, they offered everything I was hoping and praying for. You can check them out whenever you like, they are called BirthCare Center out of Virginia.

The only concern that Chris has, which is completely valid is that their office is located in Virgina, we are in Maryland and for each of the regular check ups leading to the birth I would have to go to their office.They will come to the home for the birth, but not for the regular appointments. I took the metro when I went recently and it was about an hour and fifteen minute ride, each way. And considering that I was on bed rest so much with Ty, and that will more than likely happen again, I would still need to travel to them. Chris doesn't like me traveling that far, alone, and pregnant. And I agree.

All that to say, I love them, but we have to keep our options open. I am not going to begin looking into the local midwifes to see what birthing in the hospital is really like ... what does that mean ... and how involved is the hospital staff. Fingers crossed that it works out to be the same experience we had at the birthing center last year.