Morning Sickness... It's Official

“They,” the experts and books and so on, say that morning sickness usually starts around the sixth week and can last through the first trimester. Well apparently this time around I am a textbook case. I hit 6 weeks yesterday and like clockwork, last night I felt so nauseous that I didn’t feel like I could do anything but lie in bed. When I woke up this  morning I thought that I was doing much better and wasn’t too worried about dealing with it at work until about an hour after I got up… same feeling again.

Of course I hate feeling sick, but I’m also overjoyed that I have these symptoms. And yes, I meant that plural… I am also so exhausted all the time I feel like falling asleep at my desk, I have bouts of dizziness and lightheadedness and I was feeling so hyper emotional last night that I cried at MTV of all things, lol. I love that I am having a textbook pregnancy this time and I really hope it continues that way. It feels really nice to be “normal” for once!

So baby, now that you’ve reassured mommy by making me feel sick, can we skip the rest of the morning sickness phase and go straight to the growing like crazy phase so I can feel you moving around?!

My First Ultrasound

So I finally got an ultrasound today. I was incredibly excited to learn that the pregnancy was in my uterus this time but am still a little worried that they still didn’t see a yolk sac or a heartbeat. I’m sure it’s just that I’m too early to see it but I can’t help but be anxious. The ultrasound tech was really positive and I left feeling really good about it, but then I read the dr’s report online and became a little more discouraged. Here’s the report:

 

CLINICAL HISTORY: 26-year-old pregnant woman (gravida 2, ectopic
1) with regular, 28 day cycles and confident menstrual dating
(last menstrual period: 1 June 2010, 7.1 weeks ago) whose study
is performed to confirm intrauterine gestation. No prior
comparison IHC Urban Central Region imaging during this
pregnancy. Maternal serum Beta-hCG value is reportedly about
4,147 mIU. The patient believes she ovulated "late", she expects
to be about five week size.

PROCEDURE: High resolution real time curved array 5.0 megahertz
contact harmonic imaging of the pelvis is performed through a
distended bladder in longitudinal and axial planes. After
obtaining informed consent and in a standard fashion
supplementary endovaginal curved array 8.0 megahertz imaging was
also performed. Our study included permanent storage of recorded
images. I discussed the findings with Dr. Hebert, attending
obstetrician. We obtained the following pertinent measurements:

Average Chorionic Sac Diameter: 1.4 cm, 6.1 weeks

FINDINGS: Midline anteverted uterus measuring 8.6 cm longitudinal
x 3.7 cm anteroposterior x 4.2 cm transverse. Myometrium is
homogeneous and normal in sonographic appearance and
symmetrically surrounds a solitary fundal extra endometrial
intrauterine chorionic sac with sharply defined smooth margins.
Within chorionic sac I define what appears to be a solitary
normal appearing yolk sac. I do not yet define embryonic pole or
cardiac activity during our bimodal study. No chorioamniotic
separation or extra chorionic blood. The surrounding decidual
reaction is homogeneous and normal in sonographic appearance.
Sonographic size 6.1 weeks, the patient expects about five week
size by ovulatory dating, menstrual dating 7.1 weeks. At this
early point in pregnancy I am unable to accurately predict
placental distribution, exclude previa or assess cervix. Amniotic
fluid volume within the chorionic sac is normal.

No free pelvic fluid. Normal posterior cul-de-sac. Adnexal
dimensions on the right are 4.0 x 2.7 x 2.2 cm; the left measures
2.1 x 2.9 x 1.5 cm. Ultrasound is not and cannot be tissue
specific but the sonographic appearance of each ovary is normal;
characterized by small peripheral sonolucencies, usually
follicular cysts (the largest is on the right and measures 16 x
13 x 20 mm, average: 1.6 cm, likely corpus luteum cyst of
pregnancy). Color flow Doppler evaluation confirms blood flow at
each ovary; torsion or ischemia are less likely.

IMPRESSION:

1. I document a solitary fundal intrauterine extra endometrial
likely chorionic sac with an apparent yolk sac. Sonographic
morphology is normal for early gestation, by standard criteria.
My identification of likely intra uterine chorionic sac makes
coexistent ectopic gestation less likely.
2. Sonographic size 6.1 weeks, expect about five week size
(according to the patient's estimate of ovulatory dating),
menstrual dating 7.1 weeks; reflecting relatively good agreement.
Our findings are discrepant with maternal serum beta-hCG values,
this is a troublesome finding for pregnancy continuation.
Additionally my inability to define embryo or cardiac activity
with a six-week sized gestational sac is of concern for pregnancy
failure. Please correlate with serial maternal serum quantitative
Beta-hCG values and, if indicated, consider followup imaging,
best if no sooner than ten days to two weeks from now.
3. 1.6 cm right adnexal apparent corpus luteum cyst of
pregnancy.
4. Please see above for additional details and discussion of
today's evaluation.

 

Long, I know but informative nonetheless. I’m hoping that I will get another ultrasound in another week or two and we finally get to see the baby on the screen and hear the heartbeat. Nothing would make me happier! Until then, it’s back to worry…

New Betas

So I woke up at the crack of dawn this morning so I could get my results as soon as I could cuz I’m beyond impatient like that. I just called the lab and found out that my hCG level rose to 4147 today! That means that I’m doubling about every day and a half which is great news. I have never had hCG levels this high before so I’m now completely convinced that this baby is here to stay!

I am now waiting on the Dr’s office to call me back and hopefully get an ultrasound scheduled for sometime this week. I would think that with numbers this high already I should be able to hear a heartbeat!! I have a feeling that I will cry when I hear it. I can’t wait.

Also, yesterday my boobs were seriously hurting me. I got really excited. Haha. Then this morning I started feeling sick to my stomach and I was so so happy! I have never been so excited to be miserable. :D

New Levels

I went in early this morning to get my hormone levels checked again. Either the nurse screwed up and ordered a repeat of all tests or the phlebotomist screwed up and grabbed the paperwork from last time instead of today’s but I ended up getting my hCG and progesterone levels again as well as my blood type. I am now very definitely A positive. J Anywho, my hCG levels went up to 256 which means that it more than doubled in under 48 hours. This is very good because it should be doubling every 48-72 hours in the first few weeks of pregnancy. My exact doubling time is 42.54 hours. The worrisome part is that my progesterone levels are still quite low at 7.2 now. Progesterone is needed to sustain a pregnancy and usually a level above 10 is necessary.

Needless to say I am worried but apparently my Dr’s office isn’t nearly as worried as I am. They called to tell me that everything looked good and they will recheck again in a week. Really? A week? If I keep doubling every 2 days then I would be expected to exceed 2000 by Tuesday and they said that I just need a level over 1500 to get an ultrasound. I guess they say they can’t see anything until my levels are that high. I’m thinking that I may ask if I can get my blood drawn again on Monday too.

I also asked about taking progesterone supplements because my levels were so low. The nurse said that she would talk to the Dr and see if that’s something that she would recommend and give me a call back. I’m not sure what she will say but I’m hoping that she just determines that it can’t hurt and could help if this is a viable pregnancy and just prescribes them. I guess we’ll see…

Beyond Anxious

So I went in for my first beta yesterday and my hCG levels were where I would expect them at 125, but my progesterone level was only 7.9. It should be over 10 at minimum and really above 15 to be “safe” so to speak. I am extremely worried as one would expect but I am really trying to keep positive about it all.

Last time around the low progesterone level was an indicator that the pregnancy might be ectopic or that I may be miscarrying. It was only at 3.4 then so way too low to think that it might be a healthy pregnancy. This time, the higher number (plus the fact that I haven’t bled at all) gives me hope. Now, I am still running to the bathroom every few hours just to make sure that I’m not bleeding but still, I am trying to be as hopeful as possible.

I go in for another beta tomorrow. They said that I can go anytime I want so since I’m not sleeping well anyways, I think that I will go in at 7 am so that I can get results around 9 am when my doctor gets in. I know that this won’t give me all the answers that I want, but I think that it will give me hope if my hCG levels are doubling normally. That plus maybe I will be able to convince my Dr. that I need an ultrasound right away to rule out another ectopic pregnancy and get some answers!!

My Belly

Okay, so this may be a little soon but I just have a feeling that this one is different so I'm going to assume the best. As unflattering as it is I decided to take pictures of my tummy to see how my baby bump progresses. By my count from when I think I ovulated, I am 3 weeks, 4 days pregnant and feeling really bloated. I think it shows in my tummy too... Here's hoping the flab looks more like a bump soon!

BFinally freakin P!

I took a cheapie yesterday and thought it was negative. I went to work and continued on with my day and when I got home, for whatever reason, I looked at it again and saw what I thought could either be a light line or an evap line. I wasn't quite sure which though. I decided to take a FRER this morning and sure enough, another light line! I am super excited but still a little guarded. I'm going to take a digi tomorrow and I'm crossing my fingers it gives me the word I wanna see!!

Somebody May Need to Talk Me Down...

So I am now just about convinced that I am pregnant this month. Last month I had a 41 day cycle and I thought that it was really weird and was thinking that my period was way late. Well, when AF cam I figured that I either had something really screwy going on or I ovulated really late in my cycle.

Fast forward to this month. I get a + OPK on CD16 which is the day before I leave for Hawaii. I figured I O'd while there and hopefully the BDing before I left was good enough. Well, CD27 rolls around and I notice lots of CM and I check it and my cervix is so high I can't feel it and I have EWCM! I figured it was weird and went about my day. Then the next day I am so beyond horny. I figured too many O symptoms were adding up so I took an OPK and sure enough, positive! Of course I got in some BDing so things are looking good.

Well, now I am having the same symptoms that I had with the last pregnancy... my nips are seriously sore and hard all the time. That was the only really noticable early symptom so we shall see what comes.