First Prenatal Appointment

Well this was a fun appointment. And after sitting down with the nurse and spending an hour and half talking about nothing but the fact that I'm pregnant, it's still a little hard to believe! It was great though. Thane went with me and endured all of the boring stuff, as well as what was TMI, haha. It was really nice for him to be there, especially for the fact that he wanted to go. Unfortunately, he'll probably have to miss the next appointment when I'll hear the heartbeat for the first time. But in good news, I was able to chose a nurse-midwife to see, so I'm excited to meet her and ask a bunch of questions about the midwife programs that the military offers.

Here are a few fun things from the appointment we learned;

• Around the beginning of the second trimester, the baby will be able to feel and respond to being "poked". Not that I'll be able to feel any kicking or movement yet, but it's neat to think that we'll be able to interact with the baby that soon.
• It's okay for me to keep running six miles if I want. Not that I plan on it, haha, I'd drop from exhaustion. But it's reassuring to know that my moderate running and exercising shouldn't pose any threats.
• It's okay to have a regular cup of coffee, or even decaff (after hearing bad things about it), in moderation. Of course I've read that before, and I really don't plan on picking up caffeine again. All the same, it was nice to hear. Man, I sure miss my morning coffee sometimes...

I had my blood drawn a few days after the appointment. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought, but I had to psyche myself up to go get it done...not a good start for someone who wants to attempt natural childbirth... :)

It's Official!

Getting our pregnancy confirmed in the clinic on Tuesday was very exciting. Not exactly new news, but all the same it was thrilling to get the phone call from the nurse with the positive result. (!!!) Thane and I happened to be walking into Boston's to get pizza at the time, (to satisfy my craving from the day before, what a sweetie he is). So it was like we got celebrate the great news all over again. Now it's almost time for my first OB appointment.

Breaking the News to Thane

I wanted this exciting time to be really special and memorable, so here's what I did; I made personalized clue cards and set up a scavenger hunt. I set out champagne glasses and sparkling cider (our favorite!), along with the first clue card of the hunt. Once he finished the hunt and found the news, we celebrated with the cider.

Clue Card 1: "I may be really small...and attached to a wall."

Just like an embryo, get it?

This card led him to the second card, that was literally "taped to a wall"....

 

Clue Card 2: "I may be knit with yarn...next to the sofa's arm."

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." Psalm 139:13

This card led to the third clue, hidden in my knitting basket next to our couch.

Clue Card 3: "I may be cute and sweet...where can you find a treat?"

Just like a little baby!

This card led to the fridge, where there was a piece of chocolate candy with another clue attached to it.

Clue Card 4: "I may be a gift...give the blue pillow lift!"

The news was certainly a gift!

This led to the last card and gift, hidden under the blue sofa pillow on our zebra chair.

 

Card 5: "Today I'm just a line...but you'll see more of me in time! You found me Daddy!"

Now all we can see is a line on a stick, but before too long we'll have a real, live baby!

This was so fun and easy, and we'll never forget it :)

Baby Names

Favorite HPT Brand

If anyone is looking for an affordable and eco-friendly HPT alternative, I would recommend the Early Pregnancy Test brand that's available online. You can purchase them in bulk, in the test-strip only form (no plastic), for much less than what you get in the store. So they're great if you forsee yourself testing often. They were given to me by a friend (thanks, J!), and I was planning on buying more had I not gotten a positive when I did. I never would have tried these otherwise, but I'm really glad I did and I will definitely be using them in the future. Admittedly, I might be a tad bit biased towards this brand since I got my first positive on one these... :)

The site also has a fun section where you can see the positive lines of other women's tests, and how many days after ovulation they got their positives.

http://www.early-pregnancy-tests.com/3pregtesstri.html

Stick vs. Cup & Other HPT Fun

After my ten day trist of having almost every pregnancy symptom in the book, yet negative HPTs, I feel as though I've learned some valuable lessons:

1. A negative test, even a full week or more after a missed period, is not always correct. (It's not over till the fat lady sings...and we all know which lady we're talking about).
2. Testing with a cup has it's merits.
3. Don't understimate your gut feeling.

(1) This was a long week for me. Or, perhaps, "epic drama" is the right description. When it comes to my period, I'm usually right on time. Even the first month after stopping the pill. When I woke up the morning it was due and saw no signs of it, I was immediately excited. This was unusual. The day went on...nothing. The next morning came...still nothing. Time to break out the first HPT! I had First Response Early detection tests, which claimed to detect pregnancy up to six days before a missed period, claiming a 90% chance of detecting the day of a missed period, and a 97% chance of detecting within a week of a missed period. I was one day late; drum-roll, everyone! First test result??? .....Negative..... "Ok", I thought, "it's still early, no big deal, I'll just wait a couple of days and try again." Two days pass, I go out and buy some more tests and try one in the afternoon (after holding it for about four hours). .....Negative..... "Ok, I guess it's still just too early. This is frustrating, but surely, by Wednesday morning (two days later), it'll be positive, and I'll be able to surprise Thane on our anniversary. It'll be perfect timing!" Wednesday morning comes, surely this was it! ....Negative.... "What the heck is going on?!" That was my last First Response test. Luckily, a friend had given me some of her leftovers, the Early Pregnancy Test brand* that you get online, the pee-in-a-cup kind. I had never tried those, so it was something new. They were supposed to detect the lowest amount of hCG of all the tests on the market (20mL), so surely it was going to work. Afterall, I still had no period, and was experiencing most of the tell-tale symptoms. Tested Thursday afternoon; ...Negative.... Sigh. I wasn't sure what to think at that point.

Maybe I was just having a very unusually late period. Maybe the sore breasts and dizziness and fatigue and the increased trips to the bathroom were unrelated. I scoured the internet, searching for answers. Some women reported that they didn't get a positive test until weeks after a missed period, and some never got a positive at all, despite being pregnant...could I be one of those rare cases?

I took another on Saturday morning; ....Negative.... "Or, wait...wait a minute! What is that extremely faint line I see, one minute after the five minute time limit? Could this be it?! Darn, I don't know, it wasn't in the time limit, but there's an extremely, extremely faint line! Especially when I hold it in certain light!" (I was running all over the house, utilizing every available light source). The directions said to disregard any line after the time limit..."do I follow that rule or not?" I rushed over to Foodland to buy a digital, but of course it happened to be the one grocery store in existence that doesn't sell HPTs. So I rushed back home, and decided to try one more test (with the same sample, the benefit of the cup). Same result; a faint, faint line, right after the time limit. I was going crazy at that point. "Do I take it as a yes, or a no? Do I just go ahead and assume I'm pregnant, given all the factors, or not?" I settled on "no", and attempted to put it out of my mind.

After that, I had one test left. I figured I'd better give it some time before trying again. Sunday evening rolled around, and after a really relaxing dinner and walk with Thane, an opportunity arose. He headed upstairs to take a shower, and there was my chance. (See Finally, Two Lines! We're Pregnant! for full story). If I got a positive, there'd be at least a small element of surprise for him. I felt like Charlie Bucket, putting all my hope into finding that golden ticket, except all I wanted was a line on a stick so that I could officially go to the baby-factory...was that too much to ask?! It was my last chance. (At least before making another trip to the store). I said a little prayer... "Lord, if I'm pregnant, please, please give me a second line right away, so I know to take it as a yes...if not, please just show already, so I can stop kidding myself..." This was it; cup ready, test dipped, stopwatch timer on my phone started (the time limit could make or break it). I laid the test flat on the sink and watched intently as it started working...

A second line! And it appeared immediately this time, even before the control line appeared! Thank you, Lord! Praise God for answered prayer.

(2) So, after week of taking what felt like a hundred HPTs and seeing so many confusing and frustrating negatives, I gained some insights concerning hCG levels and stick vs. cup. First, even though you will read that you'll have enough hCG in your system to detect pregnancy a week after your missed period (at a 97% accuracy level with most HPTs), you may really be a part of the 3% who doesn't. So, if you're getting negative tests despite other strong evidence that you are in fact pregnant, don't give up hope. Again, it's not over till the fat lady sings. Second, the cup method, in my case, was the best. It allows you to gauge whether or not your urine is concentrated enough, by how light or dark the color is, and it also allows you to re-test immediately, instead of having to run to 7-11 for a big gulpe to fill that bladder again. So, for future testing, I believe I'll be sticking with the cup. That being said, it's clear that the stick seems to work great for most women. And maybe my next pregnancy won't be so elusive. But after this experience, I'm pro-cup!

(3) You can't know for sure until you know for sure...but, trust in God, lots of prayer, and allowing myself to believe what my instincts told me (when I wasn't caught up in a moment of doubt or frustration) definitely helped me through the long wait for confirmation. And it brought me to ponder how in the world women did this before HPTs? They just had to wait to either get their period or grow a huge belly. I have way too many modern conveniences to be impatient.

* http://www.early-pregnancy-tests.com/3pregtesstri.html

Finally, Two Lines! We're Pregnant!

The journey to discovering my first pregnancy was somewhat harrowing. After about ten days of a missed period and many other suspicious symptoms, at long last I got a positive pregnancy test! So much for "early detection" home testing... But while it was frustrating to get multiple negatives throughout the week, the evening that second line finally showed up couldn't have been more perfect. (God knew what he was doing after all...duh, Sarah!) We had just finished a painting project in preparation for putting our condo on the market. So, after a hectic week of home-improvement, we finally had a clean, non-disheveled home again.

That same evening, after a relaxing dinner and a nice walk together, I somewhat compulsively decided to use the last HPT I had on hand while Thane went upstairs to shower. Yes, I knew it would be smarter to wait until morning. But nonetheless, it seemed like the perfect window of opportunity. (And, I'd been holding it for quite a while). So, I dashed to the bathroom and said a little prayer...and voila! After a baffled week of one-liners, that ever so coveted second line showed up immediately! I'm not even sure what was going through my mind at that instant, since I had no time to waste. I rushed out of the bathroom to set up the scavenger hunt I had planned for Thane (ideally to break the news on our third anniversary, which had already come and gone a few days before). I set out sparkling cider and placed the first clue card with it. Once the other cards were in place and the positive test was in a little wrapped gift box and hidden, I called Thane downstairs.

As soon as he saw the cider and the huge grin on my face, he bellowed out "are you pregnant?!" But I couldn't give it away that easily, so all I said was "you have to follow the clues!" Haha, he pretty much knew at that point, but I couldn't let the fun of it go to waste! So, follow them he did, which led to the last card with the test, saying "You Found Me Daddy!" It was so exciting...I couldn't stop smiling!

So that's the story in a nutshell! We are so happy to be having a baby. And to think, that three or four months ago a baby was the furthest thing from our mind! I fully believe that God plants desires in us for certain things and at certain points in our life. That He gives us a readiness, and a preparedness, for anything that is good for us, and for anything that He may call us to do. Whether this baby is someone we need, or purely a blessing, I don't know...maybe it's both. Either way, praise God, because here we are, experiencing this wonderful new adventure. We hope and pray that we'll be granted wisdom and grace to raise our children to love and serve Jesus- so that they, too, can share in the abundant blessings that come only from knowing Him. Again, we thank God for this wonderful, wonderful blessing, and aim to live to honor Him by raising our baby in all of His ways.

In case I haven't said it enough, we're truly blessed!