Monday, December 15, 2008

Smiling More and More

18 weeks, 0 days


What a joy! I have good news to report.

My OB's office called this morning and said that my AFP results (Quad Screen) came back as all negatives. Everything looks normal! To be told that your baby has passed all the screenings when you are a whopping 44 yr. old brings an amazing relief and sense of joy into your heart. Now we can relax a little. (Well, at least until Thursday)

On Friday, I met with my wonderful endocrinologist and was told that so far my thyroid levels are fine. But, he suspects that within a month or so, I'll be needing to up my dosage. I was kind of hoping that he'd say I was hypothyroid, because I knew it would be a quick fix in making me get some energy back. Oh well. That's okay, because I'm actually having a good week. Is it possible that I could be feeling better? I think so!

This last week, I had very little nausea. When it hit, it was mild and usually had a short fuse of about 10 minutes at a time. Kind of like little waves of nausea. You have no idea what a relief it is! Ahhhhh! I'm loving the break from feeling miserable. I've also been having a lot more energy during the days. The last time I felt really exhausted was a week ago last Sunday. That is a week and one day of feeling like I could actually face the world. I consider this a miracle and I'm thankful that God has given it! It is a little after 4pm here and I've been going all day without having to stop for a nap. Whew! I almost forgot I was pregnant today, except for the growing lump that has become my tummy and which continues to make me maneuver around life in new ways.

As I mentioned earlier, Thursday is waiting ahead of us. It is the day that we have our "big" anatomy ultrasound and my physical. So much is going to be seen and determined on Thursday. It is exciting and scary all that the same time. I'm feeling pretty confident that all will go well. But, as the day draws closer, I have to admit, I'm starting to get a little more nervous about the whole thing. Please keep us in your prayers for Thursday. In addition to wanting to find a healthy baby continuing to grow, and me having a healthy body, we also pray that the tech will have no problem being able to determine the sex of the baby. I hear that sometimes the baby can be uncooperative and not allow us to see their "goods". So, we REALLY hope that we'll have good fortune with it all. On Christmas day, opening the card to find out if we are having a boy or girl is the only present we are giving each other. And, we can't think of anything better.

It seems that over the last few days, I've felt the baby less. At first I was concerned. And, on Saturday I about freaked out when I couldn't find the heartbeat. It took me a good 10 minutes, and even then, it was hard to hear. I nearly burst into tears from the fear. But, I finally found it, and saved myself an emotional breakdown. I know I have an anterior placenta, and that it continues to move and grow. So, that explains both the reason why I can't hear the baby as well, or feel it as often as I'd like. In another couple of weeks, the baby will be big enough that the placement of the placenta won't matter so much. For now, I can breath comfortably. The baby's heart rate has been ranging between 142-148 (all within a healthy parameters).

Next entry will be including brand new pictures of the baby! I can't wait to share with you the good news. And if you are reading this, please take a second to vote on whether or not you think we are having a boy or a girl. There are only a few days left!

1 comment:

Amy said...

Im so glad your test results came back so well! Thats great news and relief Im sure. I hope that the tech was able to see the "goods", Im excited to find out what youre having too!