Trouble with the OB's office....

When I was at the OB's office last Tuesday, the OB referred me for a peri consult. He said his nurse would make the appt. I asked when I checked out, yep, the nurse will make the appt and call you. I've heard nothing. I called the OB's office Friday morning (I mean 48 hours is enough time to make me an appt, right?). The receptionist: "Dr. H referred you to a what?" Me: (rolling eyes) "a perninatologist". (I can't be the first person from the practice referred. Geez.....) Receptionist: Clicking around in the computer.... "I'll have his nurse call you". No call. This does not make me happy..... The fact that the office doesn't seem to run very efficiently doesn't make me happy. The fact that almost a week later and no progress has been made on a peri appt doesn't make me happy. The fact that my call was not returned does not make me happy. While I consider the referral to the peri important, what if my call were absolutely critical??

So, I decided to switch OBs. My friend recommended one she likes. I've got an appt on January 21. If by some miracle, the current OB's office manages to get a peri appt set up (I have my doubts that will happen...), I will certainly go, but I'm still switching. I want to be comfortable with the practice and I'm not so much.

The other motivating factor is that as an attorney, I represented an interest adverse to one of the other doctors in the practice a couple of years back. I didn't realize he was a member of the practice until I was reviewing the members of the practice thinking "that could be who delivered my baby..." I'm a little uncomfortable mixing professional with personal, too.

9w4d and first OB Appt

First OB appointment yesterday. It was fairly uneventful, but I was a little nervous about it. The OB hadn't scheduled an ultrasound (which is with another office down the hall) but he asked me if it had been a few weeks since my last ultrasound... Me: Ummmmhummmm (8 days sounds like a couple of weeks, right???) So, after the internal exam and blood work, I am on my way down the hall to get my first abdominal ultrasound. The picture wasn't nearly as clear as the transvaginal ones, but it was nice not to be "invaded". The baby is measuring right on time at 2.81 cm and the heartrate was 166. The sonographer was super nice and when I told her this had been a LONG journey she said "I hope I get to do all your ultrasounds". That was nice! But... I don't think it is going to happen. The OB is referring me to a perinatologist because of my age and the fact that I take blood pressure medicine for high blood pressure (genetic). That's ok. Another doctor monitoring the pregnancy can't hurt. My first peri appt is supposed to be in the next two weeks and then I'm back to the OB in a month. I have to say it is strange to go from the RE where the pregnancy was a miraculous event to the OB, where pregnancies are a dime a dozen....

Otherwise, the queasiness seems less frequent and I'm starting to feel not as tired, which is good, but the symptoms were reassuring nonetheless. I'm telling myself it is ok to start feeling more normal at 10 weeks. Right??

On a sad note, one of our cats died suddenly yesterday. It looks like a stroke or a heart attack. He was 14 and was a "bad" kitty but we loved him. My 23 year old brother, who lives with us while attending college, loved that cat soooo much. G and I are really sad we lost the cat, but my brother's grief is much more intense. He's taking care of burying him today. :-(

8w3d and all is well....

Final appointment with my RE yesterday at 8w3d. I've been released to the OB. Scary! RE said everything couldn't look more perfect. I'm hoping that situation stays the same. I'm happy to report that it seems (knock on wood...) that the spotting has ceased. Baby is 19.87 mm, measuring one day ahead at 8w4d and heartbeat was 176 bpm.

Counting down the days to complete the first 12 weeks. 30 days to go. Seems like an eternity! I suspect that I will have one u/s with the OB during that period of time. I plan on ordering a doppler so that I can hopefully hear the baby's heartbeat soon to reassure me all is well.

Of course, I am thrilled to be pregnant, but the fear of miscarrying has overshadowed the joy I should be feeling. I'm trying to move past the fear and I'm trying to take a lesson from Sprogblogger, who I admire immensely. Despite the substantial adversity she has faced, she has overcome the fear and will revel in her soon-to-be-successful donor cycle. (In fact, she's PUPO as of today, so offer her your congratulations, please).

Revel. Not cope. Not survive. Not exist day by day until the magical 12 week mark. Instead, revel. If Sprogblogger can revel, so can I. I have an appointment today with the counselor I saw when I went through my divorce. I'm hoping she can help me get past some of the fear to the reveling as well.

Well, as it turns out....

I couldn't wait two weeks to see the baby again... I started spotting red this morning. I spotted red last week but the spotting stopped over the weekend and started back up today. I called the RE's office almost in tears. They worked me in and the head IVF nurse did my ultrasound. As it turns out, I like it better when she does the u/s than my RE. She was awesome and zoomed in on everything. The little heart is still fluttering away at 136 bpm and baby bean has grown since my last u/s only 48 hours before from 5.87 mm to 9.83 mm, so today I measured exactly 7 weeks, which is where I am gestationally. I also got to hear the heartbeat. My RE turned on the sound on Wed. but we didn't get to hear anything. The little beat-beat brought tears to my eyes today.

I told the IVF nurse I would try to be good until my next real appointment on Dec. 30. Hopefully, my body will cooperate! Nothing like seeing that little flutter for some reassurance though...

No idea what is causing the bleeding, but told me to try not to worry about it and that everything looks perfect. Whew.....

Ultrasound #2

We have a heartbeat! Yay! RE said it was too soon to try to measure the beats but that the heartbeat looked nice and strong. I am 6w5d today, but only measured 6w3d. That concerns me a little (ok, a lot!). Two weeks for next ultrasound. Two weeks! How in the heck am I going to make it two weeks???? Essentially, at 5w5d, the fetal pole measured 2.07mm. Today the fetal pole measured 5.87. If the growth is 1 mm a day, the fetal pole should have been 8 mm, thus, I'm 2 mm behind. Argh.

Spotting has subsided for the most part. RE said I could switch to Prometrium if I wanted, but I think I'm going to keep up the shots until the next u/s.

Checked my TSH today to see if we need to increase my dosage of Synthroid for my hypothyroidism.

I'm thrilled we saw the heartbeat, but concerned at the same time. KWIM?

Still spotting.....

Urgh! I'm still spotting. Not a lot, but still I WISH. IT. WOULD. STOP!!!!

6 weeks today. Wednesday can't come soon enough for sonogram no. 2 to make sure everything is ok. I'm seriously trying not to stress, but it is hard when everything I go to the bathroom, there's pink on the tp.

U/S Picture 5w5d

I know its doesn't look impressive, but here's yesterday's ultrasound picture. I can't express how reassuring the ultrasound was. The fetal pole is the little blob between the two colored markers. Yay for a little blob. :-) It makes me happy!