Baby's heartbeat

So at our appointment with Doctor Johansen today we got to hear the baby's hearbeat.  He said that the baby's heartbeat sounds great and everything is going well!  Now Mark wants to buy our own doppler so that he can listen whenever he wants, and we don't have to wait another month to hear it again.  I think he's a little excited!

Doctor Johansen assured me that I will start feeling better in the next few weeks, but I don't know if I believe him.  I have been throwing up more lately than I have in the past.

 Our next appointment will be march 26th!  Yay!

Leg Cramps

Lately I have been having leg cramps, you know, the kind that keep you up at night.  They aren't quite Charley horses, but they definitely make their presence known. 

I am wondering if any other women out there have had pregnancy leg cramps, and what you have done to help them.  I have been beefing up on my potassium by eating more bananas, and grape Gatorade is now a permanent fixture next to my water bottle.  Any other suggestions? 

New Years Resolution, and baby update

I decided I would write about my new years resolution, especially since I have absolutely no way of accomplishing it, this year anyway. 

For a while Mark and I have been working hard to lose the pounds we packed on in the first years of our marriage.  With all that was going on last year with Mark graduating, getting a new job, and then our move across the country, we sort of plateaued.  So we both decided that for the new year we were going to get going again with our descent to our former bodies.

Then I found out I was pregnant.  It was quite the surprise, really.  Part of the weight loss goal was so that we could improve my chances of getting pregnant. 

New goal:  carry this baby full term, and give birth to a strong healthy baby.  Mark and many others want a boy, I just want a healthy baby. 

I know it probably seems extreme, but I eat, sleep, and breathe baby.  In some of the pregnancy books I have read it says to make sure I take time out to think about the baby.  I have the opposite problem.  I have to make sure I take some time out to NOT think about the baby.  I am finishing my last semester of school, maybe I should think a little about that. 

So, onto the baby.  I have been really nervous this past week because the second miscarriage was at 9 weeks.  I made it through that to the ultrasound today, at 10 weeks. 

It looks like a blob, but there was a strong heartbeat.  171bpm.  Yay!

After the ultrasound I was talking to the technician about the possibility of miscarriage, which was why I was there.  She said that miscarriages that occur in the early weeks of pregnancy are usually because the heart is not formed correctly.  Then she said that miscarriages that occur at the end of the first trimester are usually because the placenta is not working correctly.  Then she said...that I have a beautiful placenta.  I never been so excited by a compliment as I was when she said that.  It quieted many of my fears about a miscarriage. 

I also got my results back from the hyper-coagulation panel, and it showed that I am in no danger of clotting, and in fact under-clot a little bit, which would probably explain the morning nosebleeds.  So yay!  It has been a great day so far. 

A lot of pregnancy sources say that I should keep a photo journal of my growing belly.  I'm not too excited about this, but I don't want to look back and think that I wished I had done it.  I can always destroy pics, right?  SO here is the first, with my 10 week pregnant belly.  Because of previous pregnancies, I quickly grew out of my regular clothes.  I have lost a few pounds from morning sickness, but definitely gained inches!

10 weeks pregnant

Next up, we will get to HEAR the heartbeat at my Dr.s appointment on the 27th.  By then the risk of miscarriage will be almost none.  I can't wait!