Eleven Weeks

I walked into the Maternal Fetal Medicine doc’s office this morning, and immediately saw one of my patients waiting for her ultrasound.  I’m pretty sure she knew what I was there for when I signed in, because really, why else would I be at an MFM’s office?

I’ve known both my MFM and her nurse, Joanne, since I started my practice, since we shared an office space for about 4 months back in 2004.  So I was thrilled that Joanne was the one who did my scan today.  Everything looks perfect!  The heart rate was 170, and while Chiquitita was sleeping at first, he/she quickly woke up after a little prodding and started wiggling legs and waving arms about, and occasionally doing a little bounce in place.  She probably scanned my belly (yes, I graduated from the dildo-cam!) for a good 20 minutes, which was wonderful.  The nuchal thickness and nasal bone both looked good, so that part of the first trimester screen was normal.  Now I just have to wait until Wednesday or Thursday for the blood test results, and then I’ll know what my risks for Trisomy 13, 18 and 21 are, and can decide on an amnio or not.

According to my doctors and my last visit with AF, I’m actually 10w6d today.  But I prefer to go by the date of my IUI, and according to that, I’m 11 weeks.  It looks like Chiquitita agrees with me, because today he/she was measuring 11w2d, which makes me so happy.

Chiquitita Profile

As soon as I got to work, I told one of the staff members that I had a picture to show her, and when I pulled it out she started jumping up and down, “I knew it!  I knew it!”  There were lots of hugs, and few tears, and it was wonderful.  Everyone was incredibly surprised by the fact that I’m almost at the end of my first trimester; I don’t think any of them believed I could keep a secret that long.  Seriously, I didn’t believe I could, either! 

When I got home tonight I called my parents, and spoke to my dad for a while before I told him that I had sent my mom an email, and wondered if he would help her open the attachment, because I needed her help with something.  The email I sent to my mom wasn’t in her inbox yet, so then I emailed it to my dad.  Just as he was opening his account, he got a call on the other line, and actually flipped over to answer it!  I was beside myself, thinking he’d see the picture while he was talking to someone else, but luckily he was back on the phone within seconds, and so I got to hear his surprised and happy laugh when he saw the baby picture.  He then called my mom to look at the picture and the first thing she said was “I knew it!” (are you sensing a theme here?) and the second was, “Is it just one baby?”

It’s been a long and emotional day and it’s been so much fun to share my news.  I’ve felt more relaxed and less worried since my 9 week ultrasound, but after this one, I really feel like I’m truly pregnant.  I’m starting to believe that in May, I’ll have a little baby!  Now I just have to find a way to stay calm between now and my next ultrasound – the anatomy scan – on November 16.